Learning a twist or two is like a snack for the mind. Your mind needs ideas to mull over; things that make you question how you do something. It is going beyond learning new balloon figures. It is about advancing your thinking.
When I taught college back in the 1980-90s I apologized many times to students for making them think. Yes, that was my job, to make them think. I like to think, learn new things, and if I can learn from somebody’s research, analysis, and ponderance over questions and solutions that I have not thought of, well it saves me a lot of learning time. I can eat a seven-course meal of that and still walk away from the table looking for more.
Tips and tricks that can advance me in my career are just good reading, and I am all about that. Nowadays, you can get many good books on audio and while you drive to a gig, you can use that time to listen to the book. I no longer hear the chatter of the world; I toss an audiobook into the CD player and hit Play. Now I feed my mind with knowledge that is going to help me in my career.