@ambergrey We all learn in different ways.
I also learn primarily by doing. If I need a new skill to achieve a goal, I'm inclined just to dive in and, when I get stuck, go looking for the information I'm missing.
Without the goal I'm not motivated to learn things for the sake of learning them. It sounds as if you're similar.
I've had similar experience. I've found that I need to learn in small dribs and drabs, and to pull new pieces of information into my own weird mess of guitar technique a little bit at a time.