Last May I realized my tivo had increased my tv-viewing habits. I no longer channel-surfed, but I also never missed an episode of any show I cared to watch ever – even if it was a show that previously I would have been more than happy to just watch occasionally. I also watched ridiculous amounts of hockey. I’ve been known to binge and watch every second of every Olympic hockey game or Stanley Cup playoff game. It was getting out of control. It was far too easy to come home from work and default to watching television.
So I did what anyone in this situation would do. I cancelled my tv service. Ok, maybe that’s not what you would have done, but I have no self-discipline, it’s all or none for me.
I’ve spent the past six months with no television. Not even an antenna. I turn my tv on and I get fuzz. It turns out, I don’t really miss it. Here’s how I manage:
1. I rent tv shows from netflix. I’m catching up on all the good shows I missed while getting sucked into every crappy episode of Smallville merely because they were waiting for me on my tivo. I have found that I love watching tv shows on dvd. I can watch the series at my own pace. I watched the first two seasons of Weeds in two weeks. For Sports Night, I chose to spread it out over a couple of months. It was entirely up to me – not to mention commercial free.
2. I watch sports at a bar, the rink or at a friend’s house. I’m still a diehard hockey fan and I don’t plan on giving that up any time soon. But by forcing myself to leave the house to watch it, I only watch the games I really care about – instead of just any game that’s on (or in my case on my tivo from three seasons ago). It also has the added benefit of getting me (a slight misanthrope) out of the house and hanging out with people. That’s always a good thing.
That’s it. Living without TV was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Now when I get home from work, with the default action gone, I actually consider what I want to do. Sometimes it’s watch tv, but more often than not, it’s something far more fun or productive.