100 English words for 'It is easy to lose sight of one's initial objective, becoming caught up in subtasks or in tasks only tangentially related to the original goal.'

when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp

lose the plot

frustration

defeat

single-minded

difficulty level

self-serving

counterproductive

nitpicking

indirectness

flunk

manque

target practice

over the river and through the woods

short-sightedness

task-negative

home in

goalward

frustrating

thwarting

frustrative

stickability

would-be

interstice

self-knowledge

shortcoming

displacement activity

defocus

collateral

goal-oriented

unfulfilled

goal-directed

if we had ham we could have ham and eggs, if we had eggs

distance

break one's back

lean and mean

deep

lulz

navel-gazing

task-positive

by-view

difficulty

shiftlessness

subgoal

will o' the wisp

avail

gumption trap

micromania

self-motivated

goalodicy

passiveness

not give much for someone's chances

passivity

accismus

compulsive streak

law of diminishing returns

roadblock

lose one's way

while the grass grows, the steed starves

slum

nisus

drifting

attainment

in one's sights

hide

directional

barrier

punt

failure

stick to one's knitting

backgame

self-obsessed

completionism

set one's sights

amotivational

switch off

unambitious

yak shaving

bend

wait around

not hit a cow's arse with a banjo

arrival

disorganization

autopilot

instrument

teleogenetic

ideal-seeking behavior

automatic pilot

reconnoiter

bingo

go astray

solipsism

on the wrong track

goalpost

reconnoitre

scout