The deed is done - the doer curious...
I was taking passengers up on cross country flights with an instructor during the PPL to get acquainted with a realistic mass on the C172 and PA28.
Once I got my licence, I was taking someone up pretty much every time to give a goal: - let's fly to such a place, or see this thing.
Flying solo, I would practice stalls, or slow flight, or steep turns. Always something on every flight.
Before flight, cockpit briefings were ideal times to make emergency reviews, and every 15 minutes was another cruise check religiously.