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The Night My Kids Went to Dad’s and Netflix Became My New Roommate

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The Myth of “I’ve Got Great Time-Management Skills”

I used to brag that my calendar was colour-coded perfection. Two wild toddlers, a full-time gig, endless hockey and Taekwondo practices, church potlucks, and yeah, that side hustle Amazon empire I built (and promptly failed). I was basically a human hamster wheel, proudly spinning through life without a single blank spot on my calendar. Then COVID hit like a plot twist nobody saw coming. Lockdowns forced a screeching halt, my marriage unraveled, the job vanished, and poof—my business went belly-up. Suddenly, I had… time? Actual evenings to myself?

The first week my kids headed to their dad’s for overnights, I breezed through dinner and baths by 6:30 p.m. Freedom! Or so I thought. And there it was, a whole evening with nothing on the calendar. Of course I opened my phone to “just check on the kids.” Two hours later I’d scrolled every news article in existence and somehow the TV was now on Game of Thrones. Eight seasons in ten weeks, friends (I am still trying to figure out how that happened.).

Turns out, I wasn’t a time management wizard—I was a pro at filling time to dodge the scary stuff: pausing, reflecting, asking, “What do I actually want?”

What the Actual Numbers on My Phone Revealed

Divorce hands you this “gift” of unstructured hours, but without a plan, screens swoop in like that uninvited guest who overstays. And let’s be real: in a world where adults average 6.5–7 hours of screen time daily (that’s 45–49 hours a week—hello, accidental second job!), it’s easy to slide into autopilot. Especially post-split, when loneliness or a quick “kid check” turns into doom-scrolling marathons. Studies show screen use spiked 1–2 hours per day during COVID lockdowns, and for many navigating upheavals like divorce, it becomes a sneaky escape from the emotional whirlwind. (One review even ties it to heightened depression and anxiety risks during transitions, as it amps up isolation and numbs the feels, trading one void for a glowing one that’s “harmless until it’s not.”)

Quick Reality Check: What’s Your Screen Score?

Pull up your phone’s screen time report (Settings > Screen Time—it’s basically a confessional). How many hours a week? Add in TV or iPad binges, and did that number sneak up on you like an extra 10 pounds after holiday pie? (No judgment, mine did too.) We’re all in this digital soup, but here’s the kicker: excessive scrolling isn’t just zombifying your evenings; it’s linked to sleep sabotage, mood dips, and even that foggy “why am I even here?” vibe. Why do we do it? To learn something new (guilty), numb the brain (double guilty), or dodge that pile of laundry and life questions (triple guilty).

Pause and Ponder: Three Questions to Unplug Your Inner Gremlin

Before you hit play on the next episode, grab a coffee (or wine, your call) and jot these down. They’re my go-to for turning screen fog into clarity:

  1. When I reach for my phone/TV, what am I really chasing? (A quick kid check? A dopamine hit? Avoidance of “what now?”)
  2. After that binge session, how do I feel? (Energized? Or like I just ran a regret marathon?)
  3. With this hard-won free time post-divorce, what’s my dream “me-time” scene? (Beach reads? Dance class? Finally dusting off that guitar?)

These aren’t therapy homework. They’re your cheat sheet to reclaiming those hours.

In my next blog, I will share three gentle hacks that broke my eight-season binge habit… and got me lacing up running shoes.

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