Delaying a switch activation dependent on time other switch was activated

I have a sonoff 4ch running 2 motors (240v spa pump and blower)
they are controlled with MQTT.
I have the switches on home assistant and everything is working and set up.
the issue is peak loads. I would like the switches to be set up such that the 2 relays can never close at the same time. a one second delay would be sufficient but never at the same time.
so independent control of both relays but if one of them has closed in the last second, delay the other relay for a second.
this is hard to explain :open_mouth:
if i press both ‘on’ switches at the same time, i would like there to be a delay of one second between the relays closing. it doesn’t matter which one goes first as long as the delay is in there.
ideally id also like it to be ‘un-playable’ in that, if you try to leave a second gap between switching to get both relays to close at the same time, it wont work, the delay will always be there.

I’m scratching my head trying to even guess where i’d even start making HA do this for me, any ideas?

So there are no direct controls and you have to switch through HA ?
So don’t act on the switches
Act on input booleans that act on the switches
Each boolean starts an automation that blocks the action of the other boolean for a specified time. Whilst activating the associated motor

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