I went through multiple stages with org-mode myself:
1) Just use it naively, instead of the ad-hoc note-taking I did before.
2) Customize it heavily, including a system for citation management. I definitely wasted a lot of hours reading documentation and blog post. But I also ended up using that system for 5+ years consistently.
3) Switch to paper notebooks for calendar, tasks and note-taking.
During 2), I often felt overwhelmed by the ever-growing list of TODOs, in particular those that scheduled at regular intervals.
With paper notebooks, and manual migration of tasks from one month to the next, it's easier to say "no" to things.
But, now that I've filled up three 200-page notebooks, I do struggle to find some old notes, or even remember that they exist.
So, maybe I will revert to an org-mode based "archive" for long-term ideas.
> I often felt overwhelmed by the ever-growing list of TODOs
This is an issue with a global set of todo lists. I follow a butchered BASB type of system. I just keep all ideas in resources folders. Todo items go in those folders, but those are just ideas rather than actual todo items. Then do an occasional review to determine what I want to work on. Whatever I decide gets a folder in projects and todo items get actual deadlines. If I can't work on it, then it gets archived and maybe I'll go back to it later. The only todo items I'll look at are in those project folders and they make progress based on deadlines or they get ditched.
During 2), I often felt overwhelmed by the ever-growing list of TODOs, in particular those that scheduled at regular intervals.
With paper notebooks, and manual migration of tasks from one month to the next, it's easier to say "no" to things.
But, now that I've filled up three 200-page notebooks, I do struggle to find some old notes, or even remember that they exist.
So, maybe I will revert to an org-mode based "archive" for long-term ideas.