TV : Finally decided to lock away the TV

Kush · 2013-07-22T11:27:10+00:00

So I have recently started studying part time again. I have also started going to the gym again as well. I am doing a research-based masters degree and it requires a lot of my time to just read around my area of study to get as close to "knowing it all" as I possibly can before I even put pen to paper. I go to the gym at least 4 days a week after work since December last year. So since all this has been happening I find that what little time I have is spent watching TV. The wife is complaining, my son is complaining and I think I love my TV too much. I spend between 3 to 5 hours in front of the telly every week night and about twice that time during the weekend (Hey don't judge) You can probably guess that this means I find less time to play guitar as well as a consequence. So.. I have decided to lock away the TV and see how it goes. I am hoping to have more time to talk and hang out with my family, play guitar and read (which I used to love to do before the DSTV bug got me). Moderation is not enough here because my wife is not much of a TV person so this is more an issue for me and I would like to get to a place where I can go for weeks without watching anything and only watch specific programs every once in a while. I would like to quit cold turkey basically and I am excited for all the time I will be getting back in the future. So I want to know, who on here does not own a TV at all, and has anyone else had to take similar measures and how did it go? Please share your experiences.

AlanRatcliffe

IceCreamMan wrote
Alan Ratcliffe wrote I still don't understand why ebooks are more expensive than their print equivalent.
I agree, this was not the model proposed....I would say in 50% of the books I buy the e book is more expensive...

Studies show 1/3 are more expensive than their print equivalents. The explanations/justifications for it generally ring hollow (take it from someone who has spent time in the book world).

interest case around this is that I study law and the one book which has 420 pages (softcover)

My wife tells me that Caltech makes all of its textbooks available as ebooks for free. How 'bout that? She's in educational publishing, btw and there is a fairly profitable industry surrounding it (and a lot of governmental inefficiency), so it's unlikely to change soon. But change it will - there are free textbook projects underway (I know that the Shuttleworth foundation is backing at least one).

shawnv

I moved house to get away from distractions and practice guitar again. No adsl internet meant to me what tv does to most. I had no friends calling me to play games or just chat and share links (which could last 3 hrs EASILY). My only hassle now is getting into a guitar fitness regime and battling out what to practice, although I still have a normal working day, I have to get these little arms up and fretting again.

I get to bed early and wake up early (without an alarm clock!) and fresh.

Good luck!

Attila

This might help putting things in perspective

http://www.upworthy.com/this-dude-just-used-jelly-beans-to-convince-me-to-live-my-life-to-the-fullest-2?g=2&c=upw1

Kush

Attila Barath wrote This might help putting things in perspective

http://www.upworthy.com/this-dude-just-used-jelly-beans-to-convince-me-to-live-my-life-to-the-fullest-2?g=2&c=upw1

Really interesting, thanks

Kush

Wizard

I watch quite a lot of TV and have absolutely no shame about it.
I work hard to earn a living and like spending my free time relaxing, crafting or learning.
I'm a learning junky.

Most of the TV I watch is either delightfully entertaining fun for relaxing (including sport); or documentaries for learning.

There does seem to be a "value" system associated with the medium of information delivery though.
Watching a TED video on your laptop is currently regarded as very cool.
Getting the same information from an exhibit in an avante-garde gallery is even cooler.
Getting it from an old paper book is also cool.
Hearing it from a visiting lecturer in a foreign accent in a building with ivy is uber-cool.
But getting it on TV is uncool.

It's just knowledge. Don't judge the medium.

However. If you are wasting time on anything you should fix that.
And if the only way to end the addiction is by abstention then that's also a good idea.

I think TV has got a greater chance of addiction than other mediums because it is just so easy.
So it does require special care.

We didn't get DSTv until my kids were quite old because I had seen too many kids stuck in front of cartoons all day and unable to pull themselves away.

So I really do get the point. It is a dangerous drug that needs to be handled with care.
But there is a more balanced view.

studmissile

Might as well. Final season of the only thing worth watching!

Los cuates de Sinaloa en Breaking Bad on Vimeo

Tokai-SA

Wizard wrote I watch quite a lot of TV and have absolutely no shame about it.
I work hard to earn a living and like spending my free time relaxing, crafting or learning.
I'm a learning junky.

Most of the TV I watch is either delightfully entertaining fun for relaxing (including sport); or documentaries for learning.

There does seem to be a "value" system associated with the medium of information delivery though.
Watching a TED video on your laptop is currently regarded as very cool.
Getting the same information from an exhibit in an avante-garde gallery is even cooler.
Getting it from an old paper book is also cool.
Hearing it from a visiting lecturer in a foreign accent in a building with ivy is uber-cool.
But getting it on TV is uncool.

It's just knowledge. Don't judge the medium.

However. If you are wasting time on anything you should fix that.
And if the only way to end the addiction is by abstention then that's also a good idea.

I think TV has got a greater chance of addiction than other mediums because it is just so easy.
So it does require special care.

We didn't get DSTv until my kids were quite old because I had seen too many kids stuck in front of cartoons all day and unable to pull themselves away.

So I really do get the point. It is a dangerous drug that needs to be handled with care.
But there is a more balanced view.

+ 1000

Post of the month. ?

Kush

Tokai SA wrote
Wizard wrote I watch quite a lot of TV and have absolutely no shame about it.
I work hard to earn a living and like spending my free time relaxing, crafting or learning.
I'm a learning junky.

Most of the TV I watch is either delightfully entertaining fun for relaxing (including sport); or documentaries for learning.

There does seem to be a "value" system associated with the medium of information delivery though.
Watching a TED video on your laptop is currently regarded as very cool.
Getting the same information from an exhibit in an avante-garde gallery is even cooler.
Getting it from an old paper book is also cool.
Hearing it from a visiting lecturer in a foreign accent in a building with ivy is uber-cool.
But getting it on TV is uncool.

It's just knowledge. Don't judge the medium.

However. If you are wasting time on anything you should fix that.
And if the only way to end the addiction is by abstention then that's also a good idea.

I think TV has got a greater chance of addiction than other mediums because it is just so easy.
So it does require special care.

We didn't get DSTv until my kids were quite old because I had seen too many kids stuck in front of cartoons all day and unable to pull themselves away.

So I really do get the point. It is a dangerous drug that needs to be handled with care.
But there is a more balanced view.

+ 1000

Post of the month. ?

Agreed!

ZarK

To each his own... TV used to be a large part of my existence, for many of the reasons mentioned already. In my case I have just gravitated to spending more time doing instead of watching -after what feels like a lifetime of doing the exact opposite... Honestly, I'd rather venture into nature than watch nature on TV. I'd rather go for an hour run, sometimes twice a day, or a good mountain bike session rather than watch people doing the same on the screen. I used to love watching aeroplane programs, now I spend most of that time flying them myself. Activities that I used to reserve for weekends due to time constraints, can now miraculously be included into almost every day. Reality TV or reality, I choose the latter...

You can watch and learn but you can also do and learn. Establishing personal balance is up to the individual. In all fairness, my laptop has taken over some of the TV's duties. Be it for entertainment or educational purposes, but I find I am wasting significantly less time this way as there are no ads and rubbish programs to distract. Whatever media I interact with follows a focussed decision. No more simply watching something for the sake of filling the void or because I have 'nothing better to do'. Life is too short not to not have something better to do... I have so much more time available to focus on healthy things since I got rid of the TV sets... Now I decide if I'm going to do research, practice skills or watch a series for entertainment once in a while. When I feel like a movie, I get off my @$$ and go to the cinema or rent a dvd. No time wastage in between. Granted, I have to watch sports with friends and family, but this has some benefits in itself... I am no longer subjected to programs that are repeated thousands of times with the fair amount of nonsense in between...

It is nice to have the sport- and music channels readily available and a PVR makes some kind of sense to me but for the largest part I am more than happy to do without TV at this stage of my life.

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