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I recently quit watching TV the way I used too. It was sucking all my time and making me unproductive. Now, I am much more selective about what I watch and when I watch.
Here’s a scary question for you. How much time do you spend watching TV each week, mindlessly surfing the internet, playing video games and such? If you’re anything like the average American it’s a lot more than you’d like to admit or even think possible.
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Don’t get me wrong. It’s fun to sit down and spend time watching your favorite TV show or hang out and game. When it’s intentional and this is how you choose to spend your time, go for it and enjoy. It only becomes problematic when time flies by and before you know it is three hours later and you have no idea what just happened. That’s when TVs, gaming consoles, laptops, tablets and your smartphone become time suckers.
Why is this a problem? Because time is the only truly limited resource we’re working with. If push comes to shove, you can find a way to get more of everything else, be it money, friends, or something easy like bread. But time, we can’t get back and we don’t get more of. There’s no way to earn a few extra hours. We all work with 24 of them per day. Since they are our most limited resource, we should make sure we use them wisely and intentionally.
Just today I was reading an article that states that a single American spends 608 hours on social media and 1642 hours watching TV a year. That is 2250 hours that could be intentionally used in other areas of life. (Source: https://qz.com/895101/in-the-time-you-spend-on-social-media-each-year-you-could-read-200-books/)
Should you waste time watching TV or surf the net mindless?
Today’s challenge for you is to simply become more aware of what’s sucking up a lot of your time when it comes to this type of entertainment. Instead of mindlessly popping down on the couch after a day at work and drifting off until it’s time to go to bed, think about it before you do. Is this how you want to spend your time? If so, go ahead. If there’s something else you want to try, go for it. In other words, start making conscious choices about your free time.
Here are a few ideas of things to do instead of watching TV
- Go for a walk in the neighborhood with the family
- Read a book
- Have a meaningful conversation with your spouse or children.
- Play fun board games for some old-fashioned interactive family time
- Get the house clean, laundry folded, and drawers organized while listening to an audiobook
Pick what makes the most sense to you. Find something purposeful to do with all those extra hours in your day.
You’ll be amazed at just how much free time you have once you stop wasting it away. Suddenly there is time for that new hobby you thought you couldn’t get around to. There’s time to work on exercise and still find time to watch your favorite movie. Being intentional and purposeful with your time, particularly during those times of the day when it would otherwise slip through your hands can have a profound on your life and your well being.
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Ana, Thanks a lot for your kind information. It’s really helpful for myself. Your tips and sharing post help me to improve my some problem with watching tv. Thanks again Ana
It may be helped other people who are like me watching tv addicted.
I’m so glad to hear that! 🙂
It’s complicated in my life. I want to smash my tv to bits and never watch it again for multiple reasons. But the problem is, I live with 2 hardcore tv addicts and we are all part of this digital network, so to speak, so if anything goes wrong with their cable boxes or the pvr they need my tv and box to reboot the system so they can watch again. It burns my butt to a crisp they just want to sit glued the the tv all day, but what can I do? We’re family. All I can do at the moment is shut my door when I don’t want to hear it I guess.
Annie, I know it’s frustrating. My mom has a huge TV that is always on when we visit her. We joke that we go there to watch TV (because we have no other option). But at home, we didn’t even have a TV for years and just recently we bought one but we barely turn it on. Instead, we read, play games, and just talk while we do chores. I like to listen to podcasts or sermons on my phone while I clean, cook, and do laundry. But I need to watch out that I don’t stay on my phone more than I should. Praying you will have a wonderful new year! God bless you.