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.
We got rid of our television when our kids were 2 & 4.
Didn’t replace it for 10 years. We read a lot of books, played games, saw actual sunshine. No regrets, except maybe when we bought a television a couple of years ago.
I have a tele but very rarely use it.
But I am, unfortunately, like the commenter above, hooked too much on the internet.
Hopefully, while I’m away for the next 2 months, I can wean myself from that too.
I’m also moving in with a roomate to drag myself away from it too. I figure being sociable, even if it just mean some time plopped in front of the tele, is better than all the time in front of a monitor!
A very inspirational article and some great follow up comments.
Thanks!
Thanks for the comment! I think we’re all internet addicts…I keep hearing that one sentiment more than anything else. And, it’s probably true.
Please read this article from the Onion:
Area Man Constantly Mentioning He Doesn’t Own A Television
I too am against the idiot box. However I’m all for TV when it functions as a boob tube or electronic babysitter.
26 tv-free years for me. Read the chapter on the effect of artificial light on the human body in Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, eeekkk!
Totally Agree.
If you are thinking of giving up TV then you are definitely ready to read a great book – ‘the four arguments for the elimination of television’. It’s amazingly written and you will have no problem cutting TV.
I stopped watching almost completely for 2 years and now I have a great balance. I only watch a few sporting events, that are important to me, and 2 shows – Sopranos and Entourage. TV has become something I do (something I would schedule), not a default action.
Haven’t watched tv for the past forty years. Never saw MASH Dallas Seinfeld Happy Days and I’m sure hundreds of other series.
Amazingly I’m still alive and well.
Me downloads all me tv me needs. Screw paying for that crap. Commercial-free too so I don’t get advertising forced into my brain.
I’m with you. Thanks to BitTorrent I don’t have to pay a cable bill, but now I need faster broadband.
Its just like taking food from the grocery store. Screw paying for that crap! Stolen bread tastes oh so much better anyways.
I haven’t watched normal TV in awhile instead my problem is the internet. I lived on my own for a year without the internet and had a great deal of free time. now that I have a roommate who needs the internet, I am easily distracted by the web and all of its innane attractions. tv has been easy to live without since few of my friends actually watch TV. anyway, for those of you “struggling” with TV beware that you may end up substituting it with the internet if you decide to quit.
I actually decided to cut my cable tv for the summer and downgrade my cable internet speed while I was at it.
Best decision I’ve made in a long time. I read more, go outside more, meet more people, etc.
So far I see no reason to reinstate it when winter rolls around.
Great post, i’ve gone without cable for 2 years and I definitely don’t miss it. I do have a TV and a DVD player, so if there are shows I really want to watch then I’ll just wait and rent them on DVD. This way I’m optimizing my time by cutting out the commercials, and making sure whichever show i watch will be quality (usually i read reviews!). Good article, although I doubt most people are willing to go without cable for even a day or two.