Time in front of the television seems to escape faster than anyone realizes. Of course there’s nothing wrong with taking a break after dinner and watching a favorite television show.
And certainly sports fans are glued to the tube on weekends. Even if you don’t care a lot about sports, you were probably among millions who tune in to incredible sporting events like the Olympics or the Super Bowl. Even those are limited time programs. It’s the regular shows that tend to take up the most time.
Be honest with yourself, how much time do you spend each day watching TV? Maybe you don’t count the time that the TV is on and you are listening to it while doing other things around the house. But you still stop and dash back into the room when you hear something that you want to see.
If you still protest that you don’t watch much TV, how many shows can you name the lead characters? What about the supporting characters? How often do you talk with you co-workers or friends about what happened in the last episode of certain reality shows?
Are you able to name all the contestants from the last five seasons of a show? Do you know more about the personal history of TV characters than you do about your neighbors? Do you freak out when the cable is down? Have you ever refused an invitation because you absolutely had to see a season finale as it happened? These are signs that you are more chained to your TV than you realized.
Stop living your life through TV characters. A.C. Nielsen Company survey shows that the average person in America watches more than four hours of television every day. That’s 28 hours in a week and if you are like most TV watchers, you watch more hours on Saturday and Sunday than on workdays.
With some cell phones, you can get television programs so you could even take it with you everywhere. And if you can’t give up your favorite series during the summer hiatus and you are compelled to watch the past season reruns of DVD, then you are giving too much importance to television in your daily time use.
Think about a favorite TV show or character. What is so compelling about them? Do you admire the career of the main character? What would it take for you to have that career? Perhaps you need to get a college degree or additional technical training.
Maybe you have to move to a different city where you can break into that career. Rather than long for the life of the character, start doing what’s needed to get that life for you. You’ll have to give up some TV time and invest that time into preparing for a new career. With time management that’s geared toward your goal, you won’t wait for a weekly visit to the lifestyle you want. You’ll be in position to have that life for yourself every day.
It’s not that you have to give up television totally to have other pursuits in your life. But you will need to be choosy about what you watch and the time you are giving to TV. If you can’t cold turkey turn off the set every day, then limit yourself to one hour nightly.
In that hour, you can watch two thirty-minute shows or one hour long show. Decide to turn off the tube and start new projects to expand your life. Become the star of your own life. It’s your time, so you might as well use it for your benefit.
