What software do you use to keep up to date on literature, and if Google Scholar, how do you avoid information overload? I see a lot of people use Google Scholar and ResearchGate alerts, but I find those alert systems too overwhelming to the point I get inundated and treat them like spam. Perhaps I'm not using them effectively, though (e.g., too many AND operators in my searches). Any tips to improve my experience? Any alternatives that you might suggest? I'm intrigued by ReadCube Papers for its capabilities to integrate searches for papers, citations, and annotations (which is something I've also struggled to do, having used three different pieces of software for those functions), but I'd prefer something that doesn't have a subscription payment structure, at the very least.
Some options, most of which are actually not software:

Subscribe to alerts for new papers published in your favorite journals via email or rss feed. (Be selective enough to not become inundated.)

Try a recommendation engine (and pay with your privacy) like Mendeley.

Subscribe to newsletters of relevant research associations and networks.

Ask colleagues what they've found interesting recently, or more specifically what literature they recommend on a given topic.