Life is your Career

I’m holding 3 bindles of bullshit
And you’re buying them cause you are addicted
To the pure and totally uncut
         –60% by NOFX

TV is addicting no way around it. In my previous article I talked a bit about some of the negative aspects of watching television. I’ve been thinking of more and more reasons over the past week or so, but instead of listing more reasons to stop watching (or at least cut back) let’s look at some ways that might help us give up TV.

Stop reading TV guides or magazines related to TV shows. If you don’t know when the show is on then you can’t watch it. And if you don’t know when the show is on then you can’t feel the lure of the TV. In addition the less you’re reading about the shows the less time you’re spending thinking about them in general. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but that’s only true in the short term. After awhile of not following a show closely you begin to lose interest. I was like that when I was in the process of giving up television - I’d absolutely love a show (heck I named my cat Jack after the main character in the show 24) but after missing it for a month or so… I no longer had a desire to get back into it. At least the desire to watch the show wasn’t as strong as the desire to keep up with the new activities I’d taken up in my new found free time.

Don’t talk about TV with your friends and co-workers. Like the above point the less you know about the false realities in TV shows the better. We’re all interesting people with great stories to tell - we don’t need to resort to discussing television with our friends. And if you’re watching less and less TV you’re going to be having much more interesting things to talk about. While the other co-workers discuss American Idol you can talk about the new mountain biking trail you found.

Out of sight, out of mind. If you can get that TV somewhere that you aren’t always around it then that’s a big step. I know a lot of people have families and that other members will like to watch TV, but even in that case you can make steps in this direction. Only have one TV and keep it in a place like the living room. There is no need to have a TV in the living room, a TV in the bedroom, and a TV in the kitchen. If you can’t escape it then of course you can’t give it up. If you can get the TV out of the house all the better, but if not at least get yourself in another part of your place when possible.

Don’t go right home after work. This is a big one. Going right back to your home after a day of work when you have nothing to do at home but watch TV is a baaaad idea. That’s like someone who is trying to give up drinking going straight to the bar to “just hang out”. Ya… good luck. Start doing other activities that replace the time you spent sitting in front of your television. A personal favorite is going to the bookstore and using it as a library. Go to the park. Take a class. But until you’re used to not watching TV don’t tempt yourself by being around them when you have nothing better to do.

Replace the time. The last point included this idea, but let me re-state it here because not only does it help you in giving up TV but it’s also the biggest benefit. You have so much time that will no longer be spent watching television, so think of all the things you’ve always said, “I don’t have time for that” and start trying them out. Nothing makes you forget TV faster than having something better to be doing.

Tags: change, happiness, Lifestyle, Television, TV

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Lifestyle, change, health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.