Huge Productivity Increase After Eliminating Television

[John Wesley]

I decided not to watch any television at all this weekend and it completely changed my life. I probably increased my productivity 1000% and the satisfaction was incredible.

I wrote about the experiment in detail on my blog:

The Amazing Effects of a Weekend Without Television

Has anyone else had similar experiences? I look forward to making this a permanent change.

[Zukin]

Right now I only watch about an hour of TV a week, plus about an hour of watching online videos. When I was growing up, I spent about 30 to 40 hours a week watching TV and movies - just like a full time job . A couple years ago, I stopped watching TV cold turkey just to see what it was like and the effects were amazing. It felt like a mental fog had completely lifted from my brain. I suddenly had a ton of time on my hands, so I took Tae Kwon Do classes and started making money by selling things on eBay and before long I was healthier and had more money than nearly all of my friends.

Giving up TV is something I totally recommend.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Good for you, John. I read your post...it is true you can get a lot accomplished when not mindlessly watching tv. I am not sure I am ready to give it up entirely, but at the moment I just DVR specific shows I want to watch and try not to turn it on just for something to do. I guess it's a start.

In the back of my mind I've always had the thought that I want to have my future kids grow up without tv...or at least with a very limited amount. I've worked with kids and seen how bored they get watching tv all the time. They actually beg to be taken outdoors...they say their parents won't do it.

[llong]

I threw out my last TV in 1992, and haven't once regretted it. My 12 year old daughter is WAY ahead of her classmates physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I can't imagine losing the hour or two a day that TV watchers waste. Yikes.

[Peter S C]

I watch 1-2 hours a day. I would definately like to cut this down as its such a passive activity and a waste of valuable time. I smell a 30 day trial coming up...

ps I'm not giving up House though!

[Joel Chue]

Originally Posted by llong

I threw out my last TV in 1992, and haven't once regretted it. My 12 year old daughter is WAY ahead of her classmates physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I can't imagine losing the hour or two a day that TV watchers waste. Yikes.

Yea, it gave me an edge over my peers in studies as well

[llong]

Originally Posted by Peter S C

I watch 1-2 hours a day. I would definately like to cut this down as its such a passive activity and a waste of valuable time. I smell a 30 day trial coming up...

ps I'm not giving up House though!

Might be a good idea to think about substitutes......maybe choose some books or something.

Good luck!

[JiriNovotny]

Congratulations John

Personally I do not watch TV at all, but checking email, my websites, other people's websites, forums, statistics, various accounts (stock, adwords, etc) - that can really add up and replace your television time

[RT Wolf]

I also watch only a tiny amount of TV, usually just House and whatever series I'm into (like Beast Machines: Transformers!). And that's not on an actual TV.

I read in What Happy People Know (no reference atm, sorry), talked about how television was introduced in about 34 cities at a time. And the first 34 cities recorded a marked increase in petty theft, leading to the inference that people wanted more material things and felt entitled to more. Same thing happened with the next 34. I'd like to check out the study, if I could find one, but its written by someone more or less reputable (Dan Baker, PhD).

[Kaspian]

I think I'm remembering this correctly: I read in Scientific American Mind that a tribe of Native Americans on Vancouver Island didn't need a regular police force until the mid 1980s when the tribe got television. After that, they had juvenile delinquency.

[Horizon'sEdge]

Absolutely agree about the drain of "the box"!

I probably only watch 3-4 hours per week of "select programming", such as comedy programmes, or dramas. Definitely no soaps... too much negativity in those shows, I do good to feel good about myself, soaps are a poor substitute and only temporary in their effect.

And definitely no Big Brother... it has just started again here in the UK, and I will gain weeks against those who watch every night!

I have also found out there is a strong case for buying TV series on DVD as the amount of time consumed in commercial breaks adds up to 5-6 hours over 26 week season.

Next on my list is cutting back on YouTube and other "idle browsing" such as BBC News. I also have not bought a newspaper for a while, that gives you more time as well.

[JohnB23]

I still watch a little tv.

I watched QVC late last night just for fun. They were selling a bunch of cleaning products and this hose device that automatically winds up and some other things.

Its interesting to watch tv critically instead of passively and learn something about the world. Some questions that ran through my mind last night...

-There was a $28 product on "easy payment". Two monthly payments of $14.

Does anyone see the insanity of this?!?

People don't even have $28, and they have to split a payment up over two months? Now maybe for a $500 computer or something. Tells you something about the state of peoples finances. Kind of sad if you ask me.

-Also, I think a good measuring stick for your quality of life is to see how far away you are from the standard on tv. The less you have in common with ads, refinancing, credit this, no payments for 1 whole year...and all that, the better your life will be. You want to turn the tv world into a little speck that you can't even see any more.

[Hugh Hollowell]

I eliminated Television completely about 4 years ago. I would wager that in that time, I have watched less than 3 hours total of television.

I now read 3-5 books a week, run 3 businesses, update 2 blogs and have a healthy social life, all of which came about after getting rid of TV.

It sucks the life out of you. Any benefit it has (someone will bring up the nature channel or something) is destroyed by the time it sucks from you.

Just 2 hours a day = 14 hours a week or almost 2 full workdays a week. Just imagine what you could accomplish with 2 more days a week at work.

[Andrew Michaels]

Eliminating TV was one of the best things I've ever done. I actually wrote a post about the whys and hows here.

[Waker]

Id like to know if anyone had done the same thing with computers as I currently see one of my limiting factors as the amount of time I spend using the computer.

I'm ordering an mp3 player I can plug into my hifi which means I should find it easier to go without the computer for a while and get started on my projects.

[jwz]

Waker, when I don't have the willpower to do much constructive, I use practically all of my time off work on my computer checking forums, surfing and so on.
That can be as much as 6-7 hours on a low-willpower day.

If I did something constructive instead, I would have almost an additional 8 hours per day for 'work'.

I need to find something to spend my time on. Maybe schedule 3 hours of rest (5-6pm, 8-9pm, 10-11pm then go to bed), and then work on something relaxing and fun (yet useful) the rest of the time.

I actually have time to start up my own business or whatever instead of surfing.

Try calculating how much time u use on your computer, you will be surprised. (I was).

[llong]

Excellent, excellent thread...it touches upon an area where I was successful (no TV), and an area where I'm not (too much internet).

[jjclark]

Excellent John! I don't watch much TV myself, but I know just how easy it is to be sucked in! Time really flies by, and to be honest most of its a waste. Of course, its nice to have a little R&R now and then