i used to do that a lot and relatively recently i realized i can reframe my goal in the new hobby  when you start your first project should always be an educational test project  identify some small achievable thing that is related to your obsession that you will be able to learn and do in 1 night something that uses relevant skills but you dont actually care how good the final piece is because the goal is to learn from making it - not actually to have the thing  ---  recently for me it was oh shit i want to make a fully animatronic robot monster mask that can pull expressions and snarl and flick its ears - but to do that first i had to know how to create a circuit and how those little motors worked my goal of the night was to understand if not necessarily make that night how other animatronics did expressions and how to build a circuit  i now have a bunch of electrical engineering for dummies books and a small pile of soldering and circuitry tools i made a light bulb turn on and connected it to a dimmer switch  i felt entirely successful and im a few inches closer to that robot mask dream  plus with the practical experience of electronics now under my belt future project obsessions are a little more achievable  now that i understand those circuits when i decided i wanted to make a lamp i literally just built it myself  ---  since i know that my obsessions are explosive and short-lived i use that passion to do very small and short-term educational projects  in woodworking class the point wasnt to have a birdhouse  when you built birdhouses together - the point was to learn how to measure cut fit sand and drill - all the little essential skills of woodworking they only made furniture and shelves and tables after the little educational test projects  start with educational test-projects dont start learning to woodwork by trying to build a whole house only buy the supplies necessary for that test project  starting with a small project also tests your obsession - is this something that will last more than a few days