What would you do with an extra 19 hours each week? If you could get 19 additional hours every week tax free, and with no additional aging what would you be able to accomplish? Would you read more? Exercise more? Spend more time cooking? Pick up a new hobby? Volunteer?
How do you feel about television? Take a hard look at how much time you spend watching "programming." Is it worth it? Do you love it? Are you becoming the person you want to be while watching?
Do you have a realistic idea of how much time you spend watching television? Last June, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released a study on how people spend their time throughout the day. The average American over the age of fourteen spends 2.7 hours EACH DAY watching TV. Is that okay? That's nearly 19 hours each week. Let me ask again: Do you love it? Is television worth
the cost of 19 hours each week?
I have some friends that have a lot of fun watching sports, or will organize events to watch Mad Men. Great. If that's how you want to use your time I totally support that. What I can't condone is sitting down to find out what is on and then waking up from a trance to realize that you just watched three episodes of Full House.
I have an addictive personality. If a TV is on, I'm completely stupid. The dumber the subject, the more powerless I am to turn it off. Infomercials, reruns of high school track meets, local morning talk shows... if the TV is on, I'm a slack-jawed moron. So what did I do to fix the problem?
The Aquabats said it pretty well.
Turn off your TV. Cancel your cable subscription. Toss the bunny
ears. Take down the 54" 1080p panel and replace it with your best
attempt at Abstract Impressionism in watercolor. I actually completely got rid of mine. It's gone. I gave it away.
I now put a lot of personal time toward photography. It's something I really enjoy. I plan to continue to develop those skills for my personal satisfaction. I spend a lot of time skateboarding, which is also something that really makes me happy. My family time is spent playing with my kids, talking with my kids, imagining or looking for adventures with my kids. (I totally recognize that there are great parents out that with televisions. I'm not trying to elevate myself above anyone else.)
What would it take for you to make a change? Can you be a grown up about it and keep your leisure under control, or do you have to be like me and actually get rid of the thing entirely? What would you do with an additional 19 hours each week? How do you want to spend your time?
How does television fit in your schedule? Join the conversation in the comments!
4 comments:
I think it's a problem with the majority of Americans, unfortunately (myself included on occasion). You sit down thinking you'll only watch one episode of something, and next you know it, you've wasted too many hours. Hours that could've been used making a YouTube video, learning an instrument, working out, or hanging out with loved ones. And we don't even use cable; it's just my roomies and I will get caught up in a Netflix marathon of whatever show we're into at the moment.
I think it's worst with social networking. How much time do people sit on the computer on Facebook or YouTube or Twitter at night, when they should be sleeping? Or during they day when they should be working or doing something productive?
It takes a lot of discipline to avoid it sometimes. People are addicted to the "now". We are notified immediately when someone "likes" or comments on our posts, so we hang around to see what people will say or do next.
With 19 more hours each week, I'd have a lot more content out on the web. ^___^ Currently in the process of starting to knock the project list down, one item at a time. Usually all it takes is closing the internet browser for an hour or two.
Thanks for the enlightening posts! Hope your photography, skateboarding, and family time have all had marked improvement!
Hi Patrick. Thanks for your comment!
Yeah, the Facebook thing is a totally different side of the same issue. I intentionally didn't say anything about wasting time on the internet because that is such a sticky problem.
Personally, I've fixed my TV problem by just getting rid of a television. I can't get rid of my computer. Not only do I use my computer for work, I also use LinkedIn for work, and I even use this blog with some professional aspirations (to practice my writing if nothing else...)So yeah, the social networking thing is tricky. I love what you said about being addicted to "now." I'm as guilty as anyone for checking back on facebook a dozen times in ten minutes after posting something I thought was funny. If you have any tips for limiting facebook time, I'd love to hear them!
Good luck on getting more content on the web and building your audience!
I just discovered your blog today through my friend Drew Danburry. I have completely enjoyed it today.
This topic of going TV free was one that I was forced upon me when the HOA I'm in cancelled the Cable for the complex and put it on the individuals. I couldn't justify paying the extra money for cable, so I've been cable/local programming free for a little over a year now. I can't say I'm TV free because I do have a netflix subscription, however I notice I quite a bit pickier about what I watch. If I want something I can zone out to while I crochet I choose a TV series, other than that I find my interests lie more in documentaries than in movies.
I also signed up for the weekend paper so I can stay informed. I do sometimes miss having the news at 10 o'clock, but with the internet it's easy enough to stay informed as to what is going on. It does however make small talk around the water cooler a little more difficult when you haven't seen the latest episode of what ever TV show is most popular this week.
Hi Sunshine. Drew is one of my favorite people in the world. A friend of his is a friend of mine!
Isn't it amazing how you get pickier about what you watch when you get out of the habit of watching whatever is on? The thing I like about Netflix (and DVDs or movies in general) is that when the show is over, it's over. Of course there is still the urge to click on another episode, but that's a lot better (for me) than television, where the next episode starts before the credits from the previous show have rolled.
I agree about the newspaper. I can quickly scan through a newspaper, read a few articles in depth, and feel perfectly up to date about important topics. Newspapers can still be sensationalist, but I feel that they are a lot better than the local news broadcast that entirely focused on getting you to stay tuned through the coming commercial break.
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