in such a world art | veg | academia | geekery

Strategies to Cut the Static: Turning off the Television

I’m going for full disclosure here - the shame of outing my television habit is likely a necessary component of finally breaking it. Hi everyone, my name is Valerie. I am an engimatic, intelligent, and well-spoken woman with plenty of interests and talents. Yes, I am addicted to television.

Throughout my childhood, adolescence and all of the years up to high school, I was an avid reader. I consumed books by the hundreds, with an insatiable hunger for a good story. From these experiences, I developed a strong vocabulary and impeccable spelling skills - to this day my eagle eyes are quick to find typos and correct them. I also developed a love of words that led to my development as a writer. I applied to a special arts high school - submitting a portfolio of writing and sitting down for an interview, and was accepted into the Literary Arts program. This intensive “enhancement” to high school meant that I did the normal curriculum but on top of that spent an hour to two hours in a writing class which covered all different forms of creative writing - poetry, short stories, screenplays, etc. It was very well taught - an extremely difficult but ultimately rewarding experience. (My personal medium of choice ended up being poetry). After high school ended I felt creatively drained. An hour to two hours of dedicated class time as well as frequent written assignments from home for five years … the great urge I had felt to write creatively left me. Yet, I had an intense love of all forms of art - writing (especially poetry), dance, music, and every other form of human creative expression.

In university I pursued this love of art into a study of art history. My years of writing had conditioned me to be able to express myself quickly and easily - I took well to the academic essay format, and found that my creativity was used to develop unique ideas. Writing about art history necessitates the ability to understand a work of art from many different perspectives and the interpretation is highly creative if done well.

I’m getting off track here. At some point, during these years of development, I lost my insatiable desire to read. I still read for school frequently, and did read books for pleasure from time to time, but I never had the same experiences as I had in my youth. I think there are a few factors that led to an unhealthy addiction to television. 1) I was getting more and more digital, getting to know the places of the web that keep me so occupied these days (and thus was pushed further from the non-visual realm of reading), 2) I was, and have always been very perfectionistic - nearing the end of high school I was pushing myself to get the best grades possible. In university to make ends meet I was forced to work at least 20 hours per week on top of full time classes. This leaves little time for relaxation, and of course combined with my ambition caused stress. Somewhere in between I started to get into television more intensely. And of course it’s structured to be addictive in its very nature - luring you in with interesting characters you want to follow and creating plot situations which keep you wanting more, so to speak. Not to mention its seeming ability to relieve or distract from stress, even if only momentarily.

I am selective in my choice of shows, but there are plenty that I like - enough to keep me watching for hours every week. Right now: Heroes, How I Met your Mother, Medium, Private Practice, and Pushing Daisies are my top picks.

Now I know that almost everyone watches TV. Many people might say, ‘give yourself a break,’ ‘just limit it to a few shows,’ etc. I do watch TV that has no commercials - I would never put up with that kind of propaganda But I’m not sure that moderation would really work for me in this situation. Afterall, Scientific American assures us that Television Addiction is No Mere Metaphor. There are many concrete reasons I need to give it up:

1. I have noticed that when I watch TV I feel like a zombie - it is a method I use to escape my life. All of the responsibilities, stresses, and worries I have to deal with seem to fade away. But as soon as I’m done watching a show I do not truly feel relaxed - I actually end up having less time to work on things that are causing me stress which ends up leading to more stress.
2. I tend to eat while I watch TV. TV has been linked to obesity, and I can clearly see how my disconnected from being aware and present while I watch television can cause me to eat more. Also it is time that I’m not physically active.
3. Watching television takes time away from other hobbies that I could be pursuing which are more worthwhile. I want to get back into reading, I want to someday learn the guitar, I want to work on my side projects and get them done!
4. I have read that it effects the brains of children in various ways - changing the physiological structure of the brain, decreasing creativity and slowing development. If it affects children that way, then it’s a good reason to give it up as an adult.
5. It’s holding me back.
6. If I have kids, I will not want them to be watching television - and I believe in practicing what I teach, so I will not be watching it either. Might as well start now.
7. I want to have a brain! I want to be creative, I want my mind to be able to roam freely without the restrictions of banal stories that lure me into episode after episode.
8. Many inspiring people such as those over at Creative Passionate Users give plenty of good reasons to hit the off switch.
9. Among a myriad of other reasons, it is ultimately a waste of time which is spent not being present, aware, conscious and generally active in the world.

So while some may say moderation is good - I say that I need to just get rid of it. There are so many better ways I could be spending my time. While living my life fully conscious and aware is sometimes scary and seems difficult, it will be worth it. Such a short life is meant to be truly lived.

Unfortunately it’s been a very difficult habit to break. I have been trying for weeks now. It has been an activity ingrained into my day - especially after a hard day at work. But I am getting serious about it now. Here are some strategies I’m using to get out of the TV chains:

• A tip I found on Ririan Project (a favourite personal development blog of mine): Before watching TV, have the rule that you must read 30 pages of anything - a book or a magazine - and only after that point can you turn on the television. The benefit of this is that it is enough time to really get me involved in a new book and interested in it - after reading 30 pages worth, I may just want to keep reading.
• I borrowed plenty of books from J’s mother (who is an avid reader) and also got lots of books out from the local library. Including an old book by Jerry Mander, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.
  
• I’m going to continue to read about the harmful effects of television as a constant motivation to get rid of it for good.

So the goal is to switch from a television habit to my older and beloved reading habit. I have plenty of books on my reading list I’ve been meaning to get to for a while now - I might as well get started. While some of them are lofty and serious, I’m making sure to have some fun and easy reads in there to keep me motivated to shun the tube. I’m not sure how many readers I have out there, but I’m curious to know about your experiences with television. Are you one of the lucky ones who has managed to avoid the lure? Are you able to moderate and only watch a few shows a week? Do you have any advice about how to go about breaking the habit?

(image source)

i am a tv addict. it truly does relax me. but i am careful about what i watch and when i watch it. and right now, i tape shows or watch them online only after i have cleared the time for them and done the work i need to before that.

i can’t imagine losing out on the tv stories and getting rid of tv completely. i love it too much. but i can understand people who feel the need to do so.

i did have the same problem as you with reading though. i was an avid reader as a kid. then i hit college and stopped reading everything. i was supposed to read text books if i read anything and i sure as heck didn’t want to read those. so i read nothing. after i finished my grad degree i got back into reading for fun. i don’t have any trouble switching from reading to watching tv depending on my mood. i’ve found time for both. i try to read a chapter or two before i go to bed. that relaxes me too. sometimes i get really sucked in and stay up late to read, but mostly i manage to know when to put myself to bed.

right now i am watching: desperate housewives, prison break, chuck, heroes, bones, reaper, pushing daisies, bionic woman, life, my name is earl, the office, ugly betty, and moonlight. this is about 12 hours of tv a week, which equals approximately 1.7 hours of tv a day. i don’t watch any other tv though. i don’t surf or watch crap just to watch something.

my bigger problem is the internet. i have trouble not getting sucked in and ‘wasting’ hours online. and the irony is that i don’t surf the normal timewasters. i read blogs, i blog myself and i check email. and that is mostly it. and still…somehow hours go by without me realizing it.

Hmmm… I can see where you’re coming from! Thanks for the detailed response.

I find that the internet is completely different since when I’m on it I’m either reading, looking at art, or learning about a new topic. So it’s more of an educational and active experiential experience for me. But yes, time consuming!

[…] Unplugged: How to Break the TV Habit and Strategies to Cut the Static: Turning off the Television always seems like a constant […]