“TV addiction turns otherwise viable people into spiritual couch potatoes just as efficiently as pot addiction does.”
- Don Croft
Nearly every household (99 percent in USA) has at least one TV and most have more. We spend hundreds of dollars per person for cable and satellite TV each year and watch the equivalent of about 70 days of television (more if you’re over 65), a truly scary thought when you consider the quality of most programming these days. Plus, there’s the fact that TV watching has been linked to higher rates of obesity and diabetes.
Tired of wasting the equivalent of two months of your life every year glued to the box? Spending more than an hour sitting in front of the television each evening?
Like kicking any habit, half the battle of TV addiction is acknowledging the problem and making the commitment to change. Assuming you have the commitment, here are some not-so-easy tips on getting the job done:
1. Give your extra TVs to charity.
Allow your home one TV in a room dedicated to nothing but reading or TV watching. Kids do not need to have their own TV in their room. Donate the rest to a school or charitable organization in your community. You’ll not only get the tax deduction and a feeling that you did good, but it will be that much harder to veg out in front of the tube!
Arrange your living room so that the television becomes not the focal point of the room, but an afterthought that requires twisting around or rearranging the furniture to view.
3. Hide the television.
Moreover, hide it. Put it behind an armoire, hang a blanket over it, or stick it inside a cabinet. Do whatever you can to ensure it fades into the background and can’t be seen for what it is — a dangerous time sucker.
4. Make a TV-watching plan.
Sit down with the viewing guide and pick out the shows you want to watch that week. Watch only those shows, and when they’re over, turn the TV off. If the shows you watch regularly are canceled, don’t replace them with new shows. Instead, decrease the time you spend in front of the television.
5. Stop the TV surfing.
In other words, don’t just turn it on and go surfing for something worthwhile. Hours are quickly wasted, switching from one show to the next, watching all and none at the same time. Also make a decision not to use the television as background noise. Keep it turned off unless there is something specific you want to watch. If you are that kind of person who likes background noise, turn on the radio.
6. Throw out the remote control.
It’s impressive how much less television you’ll watch if you have to get up every time you want to change channels or adjust the volume. Plus, it eliminates all those hours you spend channel surfing.
7. New rule: You can’t watch if the sun is shining.
Recognize that time spent watching TV is not spent actively and you do not do other things that are important or enjoyable. Go for a walk, ride a bike, or get some other kind of healthy physical activity for at least an hour before you can turn on the tube. This rule also works great for your kids or grand-kids.
8. Another rule: You must read 30 pages.
…of a book or magazine before you can turn on the TV. Depending on how fast you read, you may never watch telly again!
9. Develop a fast-moving news routine.
Most news shows are scheduled down to the minute. So research the handful of shows you watch and figure out when they run the features you are most interested in. Add it all together, and you have a total national news briefing in about fifteen minutes. Sounds like the perfect evening television routine. Watch it when you get home, and then turn off the television for the rest of the night.
10. Say no to Titanic for the 15th time.
Often we can be strangely drawn into watching things we’ve seen many times before. There’s something comforting in the repetition. Well, resist it. Watching the same Dirty Dancing movie or Star Wars episode again and again is unhealthy for your body and your brain.
11. Change your TV-viewing chairs.
Make them somewhat hard and upright — chairs you don’t want to lounge in for hours. Move your most comfy chairs to the living room, and use them for listening to music and reading.
12. Create a list of one-hour evening projects.
Get productive. Make a list of short evening projects. List anything from cleaning a particularly messy cupboard, organizing recipes, touching up the paint on your bedroom walls, sharpening kitchen knives to sorting through your sewing materials. Then create an old-fashioned job jar, and try to do one each evening.
13. Switch to games.
With your spouse and/or kids, relearn the fun of Scrabble, backgammon, or even chess. Get out the playing cards and have a hearts or gin rummy battle. Play Ping-Pong, pool, or darts in the basement. Go outside and practice your golf swing with practice balls. All of these are more fun, healthy, and life-affirming than sitting in front of the television.
14. Get outdoors every night.
Make it a point to leave your home or apartment at least once after dinner, if only for a short walk around the block. Too many individuals consider their day pretty much done once they’ve eaten dinner, when in fact, evening can be a wonderful time for getting things done and having fun.
It was TV Critic Michael Arlen who said that television connects viewers to nothing except the assumption of being connected to something. Reconnect yourself to the world by disconnecting the set!
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What a great idea - getting out of the house AFTER dinner! I love it. We are giving this one a try this coming week. Thanks :>
Moderation is the key, TV has it’s place and is not evil by itself, just don’t be a passive all day long and get your couch potato butt up
The most effective thing I did was to ditch my cable. I noticed how often I was channel surfing and saying to myself, “With 100 channels, why isn’t anything ever on?”
And any show I really like can usually be found online.
My wife and I have 4 kids. When we moved to our new house we delayed on getting cable/satellite TV and, after 1.5 years, decided to stay unplugged. Few things on network TV are worth watching and we can get weather and news from the ‘Net. As a result my wife and I have developed a closer relationship (as well as closer relationships with the kids), we read more, enjoy hobbies, play with the kids, and get to sleep at a decent time. Knowing you can’t veg in front of the tube is great motivation for finding better ways to spend your time. There was an initial withdrawl (History Channel, Discovery, ESPN) but I don’t think about it –or miss the mind candy– anymore. Good ideas.
One year I got a seasonal job at the local book store because I noticed I was watching more TV than I really wanted. It keep me busy in the evenings and was pleasant work in contrast to my day job.
Do you have any recipes to not spend so much time on the computer? =P
DVR everything. Only watch what’s on the DVR.
Pro - means being specific in your choices; spend less time watching TV (since you can skip commercials)
Con - could end up watching more TV if you’re not careful in your selections
You forgot the most important one: cancel your cable/satellite service. I use an antenna to get most of my TV and use a tivo to time shift. I also subscribe to the Daily Show on iTunes so I don’t miss out on that. I only watch about an hour a day on average. Having a tivo also means TV watching goes faster, since I skip commercials.
Why not just give the thing away.
I’m not saying I hate T.V. or it’s evil - but I decided just this fall not to bring one into the new place and it’s been great. You can get your news on the internet and much better content too. The ads are non-intrusive and it’s mostly on your time so it’s easier to “turn it off.”
Is getting rid of the T.V. difficult for most? I hope we haven’t gotten to that point.
Great post. When watching tv last night, the biggest loser had a trivia question: How many calories would you burn an hour if you got up to change the channel? It was 95 calories. So, throwing the remote away is good for your health if you still want to watch tv.
I find it very effective to go to a used bookstore and drop 20 or so dollars on some books you’d really be interested in reading. And then instead of watching the tube read your book instead. I did this and gradually I was lifted from the novelty of television. After stopping a my television habit I feel like a brand new man.
Great post and some terrific ideas.
Can I add one?
Get a dog and get walking!
Andrew
TV is bad for children.
I just wanted to let you know that this is National Turn Off the TV Week
and I came across your post — better late than never. Next time you write about this topic you might want to give a plug for the local libraries and parks and recreation agencies which offer amazing physically and emotionally stimulating programs for every TV addict in your household.
More info at:
http://littleredsbigideas.typepad.com/little_reds_big_ideas/2008/03/turn-off-the-tv.html