Last weekend I decided that I wanted to try a week without TV. I've gone without TV before, but only when I've lived alone or been somewhere without TV (like the Ashram).
Why did I decide to do this? Because I feel like some days I waste a lot of time watching TV and that I get sucked into it. I sit down to watch an hour and end up wasting way more than that.
In my mind I pictured myself as vastly more productive without the TV. Getting so much stuff done without all that wasted time. I'm on Day 6 and thought I'd let you know how this experiment has gone (it will continue until Sunday night).
No more wasted time? Not exactly. In fact, sort of not at all. I realized (and did actually know this before) that if I'm in the mood to waste time, I don't need a TV to do it. I read 3 novels in an incredibly short time frame and I've played plenty of Wii. In reality I sort of felt like I was wasting more time without the TV. Why? Because my days feel longer without the TV and therefore it felt like I was wasting more time.
Was I more productive? Absolutely. Even on days where I was mostly wasting time, I still was productive. When I was watching TV if I was feeling lazy I could easily keep watching TV and never get to anything productive. But with the TV off, I find there's a limit to how much time I'm willing to waste. Lazy? Sure. But still getting stuff done around the house and business. I do feel like my days are longer without TV, like I'm participating in my life more. And I do find myself actually getting to things I've wanted to do since I have the extra time.
What happens end of day Sunday? Will I go back to watching TV? Yes and no. I'm going to try adding a small amount of TV back into my life since I have things on the PVR I would like to watch. A couple hours a week. And then I think I'd like to try extending the no TV experiment. I feel like it has added value to my life and I want to see how I do continuing it.
