Next time you whine about how there’s not enough time in a day/week/month to get things done, do a couple of things. One, remember our pal Elvis and his whole TCB thing. Taking Care of Business was so cool to Elvis, he made a lightning-bolt TCB logo and put it everywhere.
The second thing you do, after pondering Elvis, is to make a note to not waste four hours of your life watching TV. You want more time? It exists, my friend - but E! has been stealing it from you.
Just turn off the damn television for a while. There are many benefits, including more time to read my blog, exercise, play with your kids (or your wife), make lots of money, or just drink. Whatever.
“But Shawn,” you say, “I need to watch TV. I can’t just turn it off.”
Yes, you can. I know you can because I was watching this reality show about this crazy tribe in Papua New Guinea and they didn’t have TVs but they looked happy. And also, I lived without a TV for about five entire years from the time I was about 20 years old.
Yep. No TV at all. During that time, I owned a bike which I actually rode and I did other things too like going to school, working, and cult activities. (No I’m not kidding.) I read a lot of books. (Have you read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test? Good book.) Basically I got a lot of things done. I was takin’ care of business. Like Elvis.
Did I miss TV sometimes? Hell yeah. There were a bunch of times I wished I had a TV. I mean, I only heard about things like the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction after they were over. Picture how uncool I was at work, when everyone was talking about how they watched the Superbowl and saw it and asked me what I thought of it. (”Her boob actually was showing? Who’s Justin Timberlake?”) I had no idea who or what Survivor was all about. (And I still don’t care.) Basically I was out of touch with mass-market media and it was great.
In fact, now there are times I wish I didn’t have a TV. (Yes I have one now but that’s not an interesting story.) If I never heard of that Sanjay joker I would be perfectly happy, for one example. There are times when I get up from the couch and realize I watched basically nothing (and I have satellite with more channels than I’ve ever even flipped through) and wasted my time.
I’m not saying throw out your TV. It’s good to have a TV to watch quality entertainment like Conan O’Brian or The Sopranos or whatever you enjoy. And if you have kids, a TV helps occupy them when you need to do something like take a shower or clean the house. But when the TV is wasting the limited time you have on earth - even for an hour - it’s a problem. We only have so many hours to live, and when they’re over they’re over. I would prefer to use my life doing things that either make me happy, contribute something, accomplish something, or otherwise have value.
But I don’t want to get up from the couch again and wonder, “Why was I even watching that?” when I had something better to do.
So: you don’t have enough time? Cut out TV. Try it for a month and see if your life improves. Can’t do it for a month? Commit to yourself for a week. A week is too long?? Okay…try a couple of days. Whatever works for you.
You can do it, and trust me it won’t hurt you. Remember, I did it for 5 years.
Stumble it!