Hello ritchie,
Well automations are started from triggers and end when the actions are complete. Generally automations are very quick and done.
You may be having a bit of an XY Problem.
If you want to make decisions in the actions / while the actions are running that is possible.
Generally for simplicity’s sake you have an automation trigger on a thing happening, that starts or runs an action, then another automation that triggers on a different event, and that stops the first action or runs something else.
Lots of opportunities to combine things , but starting out simple and getting it going is what I recommend.