8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV
August 9th, 2006 by Steve Pavlina
Email this article to a friend
In June I decided to do a 30-day trial of no TV watching. DVDs were OK, but I wasn’t going to watch any regular programming or cable shows or tape anything with my DVR. At the end of the 30-day trial, I was pleased with the results, so I kept going. Now that it’s been over 60 days, I thought I’d share my observations on life without TV.
1. Becoming more aware of the TV’s presence
The rest of my family didn’t join me in this experiment, so there was still some TV viewing in our home. When I stopped watching TV, I became much more aware of the TV’s presence when others were watching it. I began finding the TV a noisy nuisance, and I starting encouraging the rest of the family to keep the TV turned off during mealtimes.
2. Noticing TV’s presence outside the home
When I went to the gym, I really began noticing all the video monitors and TVs. My gym has flat-panel TVs with individual remotes at most of the cardio exercise stations. I never liked watching TV while exercising, so I always turned mine off — I listen to audio programs on my iPod instead. But I began noticing how many other people in the gym would watch TV. Many of those people literally looked hypnotized. The whole thing started creeping me out, like I was exercising with a bunch of mass-hypnotized zombies who came to ingest their social conditioning for the day. It reminded me of the movie The Island.
3. Saving time
I used to watch recorded shows during lunch, so without the TV, I would eat lunch faster, often finishing in 10-20 minutes instead of 30-60. This gave me some extra time in the middle of my day, which I liked.
With no TV in the evenings, I started reading more, going out more, and spending more time talking to Erin. I found all of these more enjoyable than watching TV.
4. Expanding socially
I’m not exactly sure why, but I felt a compulsion to expand socially, which seemed to grow stronger the longer I went without TV. I just wanted to spend more time with real people, especially face-to-face. I started talking on the phone more, going to more social outings, and accepting more dinner/lunch invitations. I also accepted a couple new speaking engagements that I was previously hesitant to accept.
I find myself wanting to do something socially almost every day now. Today Erin and I enjoyed an almost 3-hour lunch with a local entrepreneur couple. Tonight we have our weekly psi discussion group. Tomorrow morning I’m playing disc golf with a friend. Friday I’m attending a weekly self-improvement group meeting. Saturday Erin and I are attending a 4-hour Reiki workshop, and then we’re going to see a live show with the kids. I’ve always enjoyed social activities, but my social calendar has filled in a lot more lately, and I’m really loving this expansion.
I think excessive internet socialization can have the same negative impact as TV — it fills a void, but there’s just no substitute for talking to people face-to-face. No TV show can compete with a stimulating conversation.
5. Seeking higher quality entertainment
TV also fills a desire for entertainment. With the TV turned off, I finally woke up to the thought, ”Wait a minute here — I’m living in Las Vegas, and I’ve only seen a fraction of the shows here.” So I said to Erin, “Let’s go see some shows on the Strip.” Over the next few months, we plan to see a lot more of the wonderful shows in town. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Cirque du Soleil’s O. When I compare a live Vegas show to watching TV, TV just can’t compete.
6. Feeling more ambitious
Over the past couple months, I’ve been feeling a lot more ambitious about growing my business and especially reaching out to help more people. I accepted a few more speaking engagements, and I’m open to accepting more. Recently I’ve been talking to publishers about possible book deals and other companies about various partnering opportunities. I’m also planning to start offering public workshops. These ideas were always part of my original plan, but now they’re really starting to come together.
7. Spending less time on the computer
Giving up TV made me question how much time I spend in front of my PC. I’ve been cutting back on my online activities and tackling more offline projects, such as finally upgrading my pathetic office furniture. And as previously mentioned, I’m going out a lot more. Spending a whole day at my desk just doesn’t feel as comfortable anymore — I have a much stronger urge to go outside or at least to get away from my desk.
8. Not missing TV
I found this a surprisingly easy habit to break. I just went cold turkey instead of gradually weaning myself, and I perceived no withdrawal symptoms. You might think “giving up” TV means sacrifice, but in my experience it’s just the opposite. Watching TV means sacrificing social outings, better forms of entertainment, and of course time.
I’m really glad to have made this change. In terms of results, it’s right up there with becoming an early riser.
August 10th, 2006 at 2:44 am
[...] Steve Pavlina published recently his experiences with giving up TV. It’s not anything new for those of you, who don’t watch TV at all (like me), but I found there an interesting pattern, which can be applied elsewhere. Along the lines of his post you can read about more time he spends right now outside. I think that “outside” can mean actually any place where we can experience something different or new. Spending whole day next to computer may end with more lines of code, but going “outside” can mean new ideas, new people or just new energy. Think “giving up [choose your time-killer]” as experiencing more life. I think this is the main advantage, main reason to do that. [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 5:50 am
[...] Steve Pavlina has this great post about giving up TV and he gives 8 compelling reason to do so. I am planning to do the same but whether I will stick to the schedule, I will let you know in this blog. [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 10:58 am
[...] 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV In June I decided to do a 30-day trial of no TV watching. DVDs were OK, but I wasn’t going to watch any regular programming or cable shows or tape anything with my DVR. At the end of the 30-day trial, I was pleased with the results, so I kept going. Now that it’s been over 60 days, I thought I’d share my observations on life without TV. [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
[...] A noted writer found some very positive benefits when he decided to give up watching TV and you can read about those by following the link to 8 Changes I experienced After Giving Up TV Technorati Tags: Giving up TV [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
[...] Giving Up TV [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
[...] Steve Pavlina has an post on his blog about the 8 positive changes he experienced after giving up TV for 30 days. [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 5:13 pm
[...] 8 Changes a guy Experienced After Giving Up TV “In June I decided to do a 30-day trial of no TV watching. DVDs were OK, but no regular programming or cable shows or tape anything with my DVR. At the end of the 30-day trial, I was pleased with the results, so I kept going. Now that it’s been over 60 days, I thought I’d share my observations on life without TV.”read more | digg story Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
[...] story No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTMLallowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> [...]
August 10th, 2006 at 6:05 pm
[...] 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 2:22 am
[...] I very much like the idea of going out to some shows. Pity I dont’ live in Las Vegas. read more | digg story [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 6:09 am
[...] O Steve Pavlina volta a atacar: 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV. [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 7:54 am
[...] http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/08/8-changes-i-experienced-after-giving-up-tv/ [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 10:07 am
[...] Personal development writer, Steve Pavlina, wrote an article about his experiences with giving up television. When I read it today it reminded me of my own experience of giving up television and some other ‘media vacations.’ [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
[...] Blogger Steve Pavlina did a social experience a couple of months ago when he decided to live without television for 30 days. He liked it so much that he expanded the experiment for 30 more days. Here’s a post where he share his most important learnings so far. [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
[...] Steve Pavlina пишет о 8 изменениях, которые произошли с ним после того, как он решил начать эксперимент «30 дней без ТВ». Эксперимент с легкостью длится вот уже больше 3 месяцев. [...]
August 11th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
[...] On a similar topic, Steve Pavlina writes on 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV. [...]
August 12th, 2006 at 11:55 am
[...] Steve Pavlina has a good article on 8 changes he’s experienced since giving up TV. [...]
August 12th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
[...] Two months ago I moved into a new apartment and have not purchased a cable plan. I don’t own any video player, movies or an antenna, which means that I don’t watch TV when I’m at home. This definately changes the way you conduct yourself when you are at home. As Steve Pavlina talks about in his post about giving up TV, it makes you want to be more social and makes you focus on your own life more. I have purposely tried to eliminate television so that I don’t have that constant distraction in my life. In my opinion television is an escape from real life. It’s a bit scary at first because I have always had the TV on in the background just out of habit. Forcing myself to actually live my own life and not watch someone else’s has been a positive experience that I plan on continuing. [...]
August 14th, 2006 at 7:40 am
[...] I’ve just finished reading Steve Pavlina experiment giving up TV and realised the outcomes of leaving TV and/or computer were at least a thousand time more interesting. [...]
August 14th, 2006 at 11:04 am
[...] Steve Pavlina gave up TV - initially for just 30 days, now for over 60, and noticed a bunch of changes. 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV: [...]
August 20th, 2006 at 6:12 am
The Personal Development Carnival - August 20, 2006
Welcome to this weeks edition of the Personal Development Carnival!
—
Hieu Doan gives us an excellent introduction to and explanation of meditation in The Essence of Meditation, posted at The Path of Power.
Are you passionate about what you do …
August 21st, 2006 at 9:26 am
[...] 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV at StevePavlina.com [...]
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:22 am
[...] Prompted by an experiment conducted by Steve Pavlina I’m in the middle of a 30 day TV boycott, just to see how it goes. I don’t plan to never watch TV again, but it’s nice to be avoiding Australian Idol. [...]
August 27th, 2006 at 1:51 pm
[...] UPDATE Aug. 15 2006: For a somewhat less radical, but nevertheless eye-opening account, check out Steve Pavlina’s 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV. He gives a nice overview of his experiment with giving up television. He tried cold turkey, but he did it only for himself, not for his whole family. (Needless to say, I hope he succeeds in getting his wife and children to go along with him, for any one of the reasons I list here.) Most of his experience falls under my reason #6 and 7 (IT MAKES YOUR CONVERSATION and LIFE BORING): he engaged with the real world more deeply and powerfully. Definitely check it out. [...]
September 25th, 2006 at 9:43 am
[...] As far as renown goes, Steve Pavlina isn’t a name up there with, say Tony Robbins or Jack Canfield or Max Lucado. I discovered his site some time ago by pure accident (some may say providence) while curiously searching for information about, um, extra sensory perception. Although I later wasn’t too receptive about the articles that dealt directly with psychic development and more esoteric matters, I found (ironically) some of the most sensible, grounded, and non-esoterically applicable advice on issues like identifying mistakes made by the self-employed, learning to accept yourself while still pushing yourself to grow, and improving life by giving up television or coffee. [...]
October 2nd, 2006 at 6:21 am
[...] I read this article on Steve Pavlina’s blog called 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV. So I decided to try it myself. It’s been a little over a week since then and so far, so good. I haven’t watched any TV whatsoever. What it’s done for me is it’s allowed me to tap into my creativity more often and I feel like I have more time to do the things I feel I never have time to do. Like I wanted to start an exercise program before, but I would alsays think, “I don’t have enough time.” Now that TV viewing is out of my daily routine, I find I have more time to do it. [...]
November 9th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
[...] Came across a random blog today by Steve Pavlina about positive changes he experienced by giving up tv. I have advocated less tv for as long as I can remember primarily due from the fact that we never bought into the cable craze when it first came out on the market (thank god for that). But obviously so many others out there couldn’t even imagine a life without tv. I always find those people *interesting*. [...]
January 2nd, 2007 at 8:25 pm
[...] I am sure, many people will experience positive effects of giving up TV. I know I have. It was so nice to go camping, when I was a kid, to a remote lake without any TV or radio. After several days I was feeling completely recharged. [...]
February 6th, 2007 at 7:20 am
[...] This Baby Step isn’t coming at you entirely out of left field. Spending large amounts of time either watching television or surfing the Internet is associated with higher rates of depression in both males and females. A recent paper by researchers at the University of Zurich, moreover, suggests that higher levels of t.v. viewing lead to higher material aspirations, greater anxiety, and lower overall life satisfaction. Spending more time away from your screens, however, may lead to greater social connectedness, more variety in your life, and even better sleep. [...]
February 6th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
[...] Steve Pavlina had a very inspiring article about what changed in his life when he gave up watching TV for 30 days last year: 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV. [...]
February 24th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
[...] I like what Steve Pavlina says on his site about tv watching and how he put himself to the test:Reducing TV Watching8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV [...]
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:04 am
[...] 8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV [...]
October 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
[...] with some talk show. I did find one interesting article the other day by Steve Pavlina (8 Changes I Experienced After Giving Up TV) where he describes the changes in his life after he said goodbye to TV. This is a very good [...]