It's not a bad habit, you just haven't discovered a way to integrate the information in a way that produces good output for you. E.g. something like a Zettlekas

It's not a bad habit, you just haven't discovered a way to integrate the information in a way that produces good output for you. E.g. something like a Zettlekasten. Also, its not ADHD, its preparedness. There is a fundamental tension between discovery and requirement. You're going through your garage and you find a cool or unusual thing. You feel inspired, excited you own this treasure, and dreaming of things to do with it. That is discovery. Requirement is when you want to build something specific, and now you need to gather tools and supplies to fit the need. This is a significantly less enjoyable process for most people, especially since for most projects it's usually the first (and last) time you'll execute a project like that (its a power law thing). It's not all bad - its because 'requirement' is so much less exciting that people pay good money to entice people to do that work for them. One way to cope with this asymmetry, have your cake and eat it too, is to constantly discover things (which is its own reward), but you can squirrel the discoveries away so that when requirement comes you'll be ready for it. By its nature, this strategy means you'll never use 95% of your information, but you'll never know which 95%. So, don't be so hard on yourself and horde away, I say!