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Could You Give Up Television?

Back in April this year, I wrote about the More Time Now Ebook by Dave Navarro. This Ebook bought to my attention how much time I was wasting watching television.

Since then I made a conscious decision to cut back.  So how did I go?  Well as with most things, I started off well.  What I didn’t realise was how ingrained television is into my everyday habits.

Here’s  a quick overview of my 6 deadly television sins.

  1. Having the tv on for background noise.  I mainly do this when I am cooking or cleaning.  Thankfully, I do not have the television on when I write.
  2. As I mentioned in my last post, my real addiction is for boxed sets of television shows. You hit the play all button and 4 or 5 episodes come at you back to back.  Yes the ads are taken out,  so you are not wasting quite as much time as if you were watching the television, but once you have watched a couple of hours worth – the damage has been done.
  3. I have also gotten into a nasty habit of sitting with my laptop on my lap (hence the name) while I watch television.  I tell myself I will ‘work’ while I do this but in truth all I to do is Internet surf.  If I was leaving comments on my favourite blogs at least I would accomplish something.  The truth is that neither the laptop nor the television has my full attention.   Consequently nothing is achieved.
  4. I watch tv while I eat dinner (yes that means I sit at the couch and not at the table).
  5. I use it to relax. After working during the day and then writing at night, I tend to flop in front of the television to unwind.  Though I’m tired, I have found that if I go straight to bed, my mind is still racing with writing ideas and to do lists.   It takes me a lot longer to  fall asleep.   Instead I numb myself with television first.
  6. Watching stuff I don’t like because the television is on and I feel like being lazy!

Last week I was talking to a friend and I mentioned the digital changeover that was coming.  I suggested that I might not upgrade to digital.  She was shocked.  She said I couldn’t not have a television.

Which lead me to an interesting question – could I give up watching tv?

Could I go even a week without watching it?

Since I started reading a variety of great minimalist blogs, I’ve discovered some people are asking themselves the exact same thing.

Many are either seriously limiting their time sitting in front of the box (or flat screen – guess we can’t really call it a box anymore – though I still have of those!) or they are giving up television all together.

Here are some interesting viewpoints to consider.

Miss Minimalist – Living without a TV

 Becoming Minimalist – Ten reasons to watch less television

Being Minimalsit – How to limit your childs screen time

Advanced Riskology – How to add 8 years and $133,369 to your life

The Simple Dollar – Ten financial reasons to turn off your television

Be More with Less – Lessons from a tv free life 1 week in

Do you think you could give up television?

Would you like to be able to cut back on how much television you watch?

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