My fiancée and I watch a fair amount of television. It’s not the ONLY thing we do, but we tend to leave it on a great deal in the background during the evenings. In the summer, there’s not much we really follow, but somehow the TV still ends up on around 7:30, 8pm and stays on until around 10.
So we’ve decided to go cold turkey. Just for one week, to see if we’re more productive if we’re not being distracted by reality TV and bad sitcoms. It also means we’re going to force ourselves avoid crashing out on our couch every night, and we’ll sit at the kitchen table with our computers or books instead.
So what are we hoping to accomplish with this experiment? Well, for starters we’ve got some wedding plans we need to work on, and we’re hoping to be more productive if we aren’t sucked into the TV as we work. We’re also trying to fit more workout time into our evenings, and if we’re not firmly planted on a nice comfy couch there’s a higher likelihood we’ll actually get moving.
But this is probably going to be a bit of a shock for us after a few days. Luckily, my faithful TiVo will be recording any shows we want to catch after the week is over! I plan on writing a follow-up sharing whether this really changes any of our habits, or if it’s just a fun one-time experiment.
Have any of you tried giving up television entirely? Was it tough? Do you find you have more free time, are more productive, etc., or has TV-time just transitioned into browsing nothing but LOLCats on the internet for 4 hours? Share any tips or comments below!
I haven’t watch hardly an TV in *years*. I watch plenty of TV *programs*–2-3 a week, I guess–but always on my iPhone or, rarely, my laptop. For what it’s worth.
Breaking the TV Habit http://bit.ly/bjFAia
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I gave up TV when I moved out of the Us, not that I didn’t find relevant TV in Europe, but just didn’t have the time to do so.. Its really been nice without it.. I have a 19″ LCD with a built in DVD in the bedroom and I will watch DVDs on it and occasionally the news. In the lounge there is a 42″ plasma with the fully cable setup, my roommate has it on all the time.. 🙂
Amazing how much more reading I do, socialising with friends, and just wandering around the neighborhood on walks.
I’m trying something new, I’m only listening to classical music, I have purchased the complete works of Chopin and working my way through it along with reading on-line some of the history behind it. Better to whistle Chopin than some insipid ad jingle right?
Stick with it! You’ll find a whole new life!
RT @GiantGizmoNews: Breaking the TV Habit http://bit.ly/bjFAia
Yes, we were tourists at the time, but still: when we were in France, we did what the French do: spent a lot of time in restaurants eating and talking, and spent a lot of time in cafes eating and talking. I only recall thinking a couple of times, “Gee, vegging in front of the TV right now would be nice.” But then, Sami and I are more book people than TV people.