1. One Month No TV Challenge

    27 January 2009

    So, continuing with my productivity thread I’ve decided to completely cut out TV for an entire month. I’ve given this some thought and here are my current TV viewing habits:


    • I would say that most of the TV I watch consists of pre-recorded shows. Something that I could easily catch up on at a later time. With such services as Hulu and NetFlix I really shouldn’t have to bother watching regularly scheduled programming. True, I do have Comcast DVR but for some reason I feel compelled to watch whatever shows I have recorded asap.

    • If I’m watching live TV it is usually Boston sports. I’m mostly a Boston Red Sox fan. And of course, they’re out of season right now. I do enjoy watching the Celtics and Bruins from time to time but I’m going to stick to my guns on this challenge.


    Now, when I break down the pre-recorded programs I watch I would easily say that anywhere from 50% - 75% of my TV viewing time is dedicated to watching episodes of shows I’ve *already seen*. I find it easy to toss on an episode ofScrubs or Star Trek (anything except Voyager!) that I’ve seen a million time. Much easier than reading one of the many books I have piling up. This ties into my theory I have that most people will always choose the Path of Least Resistance for spending their time. TV is the easiest way to do this. The only way to overcome this is self-discipline.

    Okay, so here is what I’m cutting out starting today:

    • All TV programs

    • All YouTube.com or other similar videos (unless they offer some type of benefit to me, educational)

    • Movies (both theater and broadcast)

    • Any video games (although I haven’t really played any in a while)



    Instead I’m going to dedicate that time towards reading on different subjects I’m interested in, maybe try to learn a new programming language (Schema here I come!) and get more exercise.

    It is so strange to actually write about this. It seems that cutting out TV completely would be simple. Go cold turkey, but thinking about it you begin to realize just how ingrained within our society TV has become. It is probably one of the most powerful and influential forces around today. So, let’s see how this 1 month goes!