Well, "have to" in that I don't presently know of a better way, but I intend to look for one.
NO WAIT, I'm an imbecile. Apparently using the Neocities CLI allows me to do exactly what I want and upload just the files that have been changed. Amazing. If it isn't obvious it is late and my brain is not operating efficiently.
If you find yourself in scrolling limbo and are having a hard time getting out of it for whatever reason, literally just yeet your phone away from yourself. Preferably somewhere soft so it doesnt crack lol. It'll force you to get up and move and even if you dont wanna get up still, at least you wont be rotting your brain with scrolling. Idk if this is helpful for you but I thought it's a good tip for some people
This may be surprising but I don't actually have a smartphone kek. But yer right, the dreaded smartphone is a major vector for scrolling.