This is a great question to ask, like you @Exposure, I've been jamming a lot, generally alongside 2 and/or 3. I also throw in two other variations:
Try to ripoff someone I like and see how I can reproduce their style in modular. This helps me get away from my typical patterns and think about areas of my synth that I'm not working with as much, or different approaches to modules I'm already using. And of course as you do this you end up adding your own ideas and flair, so it becomes a nice hybrid piece in a way.
Pick some sort of metaphorical idea and aim for that, e.g. "This song will sound like different types of water coming together, or arid fire, or have a particular feeling." This one is a little bit more subjective which makes it harder but I like to throw it into the mix now and then. That said, you can also take a more concrete approach to this, a la James Tenney's Postal Pieces (https://blogthehum.com/2016/05/31/james-tenneys-postal-pieces/) which gives you a chance to provide a framework to work in and then demands you explore it properly.
With both approaches, having a clear goal other than "this sounds good" can go a long way to keeping you learning. It can be a little easy to coast on how good a synth sounds, which is definitely great, but we learn best by continuing to push forward.
Anyway, just my 2 cents!
my tunes: https://stevehand.bandcamp.com/