What I do is keep a notepad next to me. When I start something, I first write what my goal is. This guides me as to how deep I am willing to go. If my goal is just to learn things, I start out with a tutorial and write notes about what I don't understand as things that I can follow-up on later.
It helps that I've spent some time explicitly trying to learn things on multiple levels. If you like doing that, look at MIT's class 6.004 and it will give you a deeper understanding of computer architecture.
It helps that I've spent some time explicitly trying to learn things on multiple levels. If you like doing that, look at MIT's class 6.004 and it will give you a deeper understanding of computer architecture.