I think we all suffer from this dilemma to varying degrees.
Side note: I just read an interesting article on addictive behavior. It suggests that absolute addiction is not really as hard to overcome as we previously thought. The problem with addiction is it's a way to bond with something. Bonding is the actual addiction. You can bond with people, drugs, things, behaviors. If you want to overcome a particular addictive pattern of behavior, you bond with something else and you will overcome it.
Back to your problem. I think we all develop addictive patterns of behavior. One of those patterns is absorbing new possibilities. Learning what's possible. But never acting on it. It's a side effect of having access to all this information. I suggest you bond with one particular idea. Do this by bonding with the people who are already bonded with the idea. Focus on one thing. I don't think it actually matters what it is as long as it's in line with your learning/career goals. Locate blogs and other people on campus with a strong bond to the idea you are trying to master. Embed yourself in with these people. Get to know them. Believe in what they preach. Absorb the information until you reach a level of mastery that appeals to you. Then leave and do it again with a new idea. You have to become a true follower and believer of the particular scripture you are chasing down. Once you do that, your mind will open up and allow you to absorb as much knowledge as you have time for.
"I just read an interesting article on addictive behavior."
My take on this is that the OP is simplistically addicted to learning because it's easy and requires little effort and prolongs not having to actually do something.
Back in the day of buying books at Barnes and Noble, I found myself doing something similar where I would continue to buy books to learn but never took any action or put off taking action on doing because it was much more comfortable to justify the time spent learning as "being good for something". Even if learning just meant leafing though the books. Similar to a graduate student getting degrees to avoid real life (in some not all cases I mean) and the real world.
I broke the habit by deciding that I didn't need another book and I should spend the time actually using the knowledge that I had acquired. Not that these were all computer books (they weren't) but an example would be to actually sit down with that book on PHP or Mysql and actually start to do something (was a LAMP book iirc). I did that one day and built a tool that I could use that was really valuable. I forced myself to read from the start. Now I question each thing I think about learning in terms of the actual value and whether I should concentrate on things that I have already acquired knowledge wise.
Your comment really resonated with me. It's like that person who attempts to beat procrastination in order to get things done by... reading books about procrastination.
This advice is very good for me, as well. I have five of those cheapie Walmart bookshelves full of computer programming books. This advice penetrates to my very core. Thank you.
I second your idea about "bonding with people who are already bonded with the idea".
For the longest time, one of the things on my bucket list was to learn/make a game (with no prior experience before). During the last three years, I've started/restarted on my own but to no avail.
Two months ago, I joined an incubator for new game-makers and just being around so many supportive mentors (and other newbies who were creating games) pushed me to actually focus in on an engine, focus in on one idea and actually make significant progress in making my first game. I'm now about 80% complete with my game.
Guess I just needed a little push, a little encouragement and some accountability to finish something I've started so many times before!
Side note: I just read an interesting article on addictive behavior. It suggests that absolute addiction is not really as hard to overcome as we previously thought. The problem with addiction is it's a way to bond with something. Bonding is the actual addiction. You can bond with people, drugs, things, behaviors. If you want to overcome a particular addictive pattern of behavior, you bond with something else and you will overcome it.
Back to your problem. I think we all develop addictive patterns of behavior. One of those patterns is absorbing new possibilities. Learning what's possible. But never acting on it. It's a side effect of having access to all this information. I suggest you bond with one particular idea. Do this by bonding with the people who are already bonded with the idea. Focus on one thing. I don't think it actually matters what it is as long as it's in line with your learning/career goals. Locate blogs and other people on campus with a strong bond to the idea you are trying to master. Embed yourself in with these people. Get to know them. Believe in what they preach. Absorb the information until you reach a level of mastery that appeals to you. Then leave and do it again with a new idea. You have to become a true follower and believer of the particular scripture you are chasing down. Once you do that, your mind will open up and allow you to absorb as much knowledge as you have time for.