Whether I'm writing short or novel-length fiction, I always find myself writing some relatively short chunk, then wanting to skip forward in time. My writing will look like this

[ Jeff is told by his mother that the house next door is haunted.]

---

[ Jeff steps up to the gate of said house.]

It just doesn't feel clear to me that considerable time has passed or the setting has changed without the "enter + "---" + enter".

I'm not sure if it's considered a sloppy tactic or not, and I try not to overuse it though I want to.