I'm really enjoying this discussion. I'm probably one of the only regular competitive track cyclists who commutes ~4 hours to get to his home track. 'Cognitive load of training' becomes a very real thing when needing to be awake and aware for an additional 8 hours one day per week. That's before I take into account that I need to race that day, too (I use this fact to justify buying trick aero gear, helmets, wheels, shoecovers etc.
). I try to convince myself that the commute is just sitting down for four hours, but it really adds up week after week. T-Town is actually easier because I head out the night before and stay at someone's place overnight, so the drive is more relaxing as all I have to think about is getting there.
That being said, I've done a few things to make my workouts easier to execute. I always set up in my back entry, as that is where my bikes live with my trainer near the door, and the front of the bike pointing into the house. So, I've wedged my trainer close to the door meaning I only have to move it a foot or two, and I have a fan set up pretty close to where the front of the bike is. Again, it only has to move a foot or two. For the gym, they pretty consistently take ~1 - 1.5 hours. I leave about 1.75 to 1.5 hours before my gym closes, so that by the time I get there, I have an hour or so basically to myself. There's pretty few curlbros at the gym at 9:27 PM on a Monday night.
Additionally, when the weather starts getting nicer and more of the workouts can be done outdoors, I'll simply ride my track bike to work which is less than five minutes away with all the stuff I need in a bag. I work at a bike shop primarily as a mechanic. Our storage is upstairs which means hauling bikes up and down constantly, and we always test ride repaired bikes. Thus, it's a very physical job. I've found that if I go home to do my workout, I'll just have dinner, pass out for a few hours, wake up groggy and not give 100% on the workout or just skip it entirely. When my only way home is to ride my bike, I may as well do the workout.