I never used templates until a few months ago. Once I started to use them, I was hooked.
It goes faster when I don't have time. Also, a pet peeve of mine is multiple photo pages, so I use templates a lot for them (birthdays, outings, etc.)
I would say, my ratio these days is 50-50, templates vs from scratch.
So don't feel bad. They are a great tool. I'm sure your mojo will come back.