“People will come home from work and will have given zero thought to what they’re going to do for the six-hour block between then and bedtime,” Stewart notes. “Because we’re not giving that time thought, it just slips away. You fall into the effortless stuff: watching TV, scrolling on your phone – both of which are fine if this is what you had planned to do. But often, it’s time we’re not paying attention to; it’s routine, and we’re on autopilot.”

I am very much one of the people Stewart mentions. But in the time audit call, she said something that’s managed to finally break my automatic scrolling habit: before slipping into an effortless, mindless activity like scrolling, do something effortful.

“Even if it’s only saying to yourself, OK, I’m going to read for five minutes before I switch on the TV,” she noted. “It’s not saying that you can’t watch TV or scroll on your phone, but it’s all about the intention behind it. If you start with something effortful, you tend to find once you get going, you get into it, and it’s just that initial hurdle of getting started.”

In short, from now on I’ll be interrupting the automatic flow of collapsing on the sofa and scrolling through TikTok. I’ll do something else first, whether it’s reading a book or writing some notes, even if it’s just for five minutes. I’ve noticed Stewart was spot on when she said I’d get into it quickly – every time I’ve done this, I’ve held off on scrolling for at least an hour, and felt much more fulfilled by the time I’ve spent as a result.

“6 ways I’m changing my life after having a professional time audit”