Means, Ends, and the Long Way Around

It is common enough for means and ends to trade places. Even so, it is strange how we keep repeating the same sort of thing over and over.

That does not mean everything has to be done with some goal in mind.
Sometimes, we come across something unexpected while doing something seemingly unrelated.

The point of building a PKM system or a second brain is not the building itself. There should be some “something” beyond it.
—Leaving aside, for the moment, those who simply do it as a hobby.
We do not write notes merely for the sake of writing notes. Presumably, we are after something that happens as a result.
The point of doing woodworking is not the DIY itself, but to build a shelf.
The point of taking a bath is not the bath itself, but to keep ourselves clean.
The point of eating is not the eating itself, but to nourish and sustain body and mind.
Put this way, the farther down the list we go, the more this goal-oriented way of thinking begins to look joyless—and perhaps not all that desirable.

The reason I am thinking about all this—the purpose behind it—is to figure out why I keep getting sidetracked. I had a vague sense that I was wasting time on pointless things because I could not hold on to the actual goal, and lately I have started to think, “Maybe it is about time I did something about that.”
Despite repeatedly reminding myself that Obsidian is just a slightly more convenient version of a paper notebook, before I knew it I was spending my time on “building the system” itself: frontmatter, PARA, then, no, perhaps something closer to a pure Zettelkasten; perhaps I need to construct a beautiful, meaningful structure.

If this reversal—or blurring—of means and ends comes from human instinct, would forcing ourselves to resist it be unnatural?
Things for which it is better to stay conscious of means and ends…
Things for which it is better not to worry about them…
And what, exactly, is the purpose of trying to work out the difference?

In the first place, everyone has different aims, so from a broader perspective, perhaps the very division between means and ends is misguided.
Still, if I say that, the whole discussion falls apart, so I feel it is probably better to hold on to some sense of purpose of my own.
In truth, I should probably stop overthinking every little thing and simply follow whatever occurs to me. But given that I am trying to live in modern society while tangled up in unnecessary self-consciousness, it is not quite that easy.
Then again, rather than insisting that “it is not quite that easy,” perhaps moving forward—even if I turn out to be wrong—may, oddly enough, be the quickest way around.