[OSButler]

The important part is weeding out the good from the bad. If you're good at that, then using google to check for help/info about your current problem can provide you with new approaches, ideas, or maybe even new features in the language(s) you are using that you weren't aware of before.

Personally, I usually map out the approach to the problem and then check if there are any matching helpful resources available online. Even if you don't find something that applies to the current situation, most of the time you will end up with a collection of interesting new ideas and approaches, which could be helpful for another project later on or is just of general interest, such as a new library or language feature.

I feel that it keeps me more up to date compared to just hacking away on the problem without any further research.