However, spreading a little here and there in unconnected vehicles is unlikely to yield much.

I relate to this a lot. Hence, I am looking for ways not to spread myself too thin all over the multitude of stuff I wish to be able to do and master. Picking and choosing, what I dedicate more of my time and accepting the fact that I will likely not have time to cover all of it in my lifetime.

Is there a difference in your thoughts when reading an article like this, or scrolling five minutes of Instagram?

Of course, there is a difference. But reading in general has not been the easiest for me my whole life. It takes a lot of intense focusing to read and grasp. Sure, I can skim through stuff while my mind is all over my thoughts that never stop, but then I do not grasp what I read. It takes some time to gain some fluidity where what I read takes over my thoughts and makes them stop or go away further in the background.

That said, I think that this struggling could be dealt with by just training my focus a little more.