I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to just jump in to new projects without much in the way of advance planning.  I find if I spend too much time researching something ahead of time, I'm apt to convince myself it's too hard and just not do it.  I like to get just enough of an intro to grasp the basics then dive in and figure the details out as I go (obviously I keep this to low risk pursuits like making marshmallows or sewing curtains...not things like messing about with wiring or getting the perfect dinner [...]