Were Balasaheb Deo's obstacles in reading the Dnyaneshwari just a matter of being too busy?

No, the obstacles were deeper than simply being busy. While Chapter 41 mentions that "some obstacle or other would come," it clarifies that the problem was more internal. Even when Deo took a three-month leave from his job and went home to rest comfortably, he read other books, but the time for Dnyaneshwari "did not come." The core issue was that when he did take the book in hand, doubts would arise in his heart, which kept the reading superficial. He could not generate a genuine "love" for the practice from within. This internal resistance was the true obstacle that made it impossible for him to maintain his resolution, even for just five verses a day.