‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a famous poem by Gil Scott-Heron.
I think Mr. Scott-Heron’s attempting to tell people that if you want change, or a “revolution”, it’s not going to happen from being idle watching television. For a long time I’ve wanted to try to stop watching television, or at least significantly cutback. From August 5th – August 11th , I decided I was going to test myself and give up the television cold turkey. Going in, one of my greatest fears was that not having a television was going to leave me bored and restless. I felt ashamed for holding that belief and also for being so attached to a box with moving pictures.
On August 5th, I finished the 20 minute walk from the train station to my house. The day’s grind left me exhausted and I just wanted relief. My hand automatically reached for the remote and my right index finger was about to follow it’s familiar routine: Cable >> Power >> TV >> Power. Then I realized I wasn’t supposed to be watching television. Why the hell did I sign up to do this? my mind complained. Being honest, that day I probably would have just watched television if I hadn’t already told everybody I was stopping for the week. Realization #1 – Television watching is ingrained more than I knew.
So instead of watching television, I worked up a sweat at the gym even though my body was already tired. After the workout, I looked around my room and contemplated what to do next. I decided to prepare for a job interview I had for the following week and also read a book. I felt proud of myself for sticking to my gameplan and not caving to my desire to watch television. I knew that if something within me was craving television that much, I desperately needed to give it up — at least for a week. I made it through the rest of the first day unscathed, but unfortunately, they say the second day is the hardest to begin any new habit.
Photo Credit: Let's Get Fit To Focus
The next day was Friday and the start of the weekend which I knew offered a dangerous threat to my television-free weekend. The weekend challenges everybody trying to break free from television because days off from work generally provide much more free time. And free time can easily lead to TV time. Realization #2 -I quickly realized the key was to become busy. Friday night was very low key. Without television, I was able to catch-up in depth with many blogs I enjoy reading — including some minimalist ones. I also devoted more time to my job interview. Interestingly enough, I rediscovered how much I enjoy listening to the sports talk radio personalities by streaming the broadcast live through the Web.
For me, Saturday marked a turning point. Without television wasting my time I:
* Met up with a childhood friend and went to the movies early, *Enjoyed an encouraging meeting with my team members of goal-setters, *Got in an exhausting but needed workout, *Worked on People, Not Stuff, *Cleaned my laundry, *Participated in an intense mock interview, *Went to the Phillies game instead of watching it on TV, *Met a new friend, *Called an old college close friend, *Received an invite to meet with the Mayor’s press secretary, *Opted out of junk mail and credit card offers, *Relaxed in complete silence.
The Television Free Minimalism Week has left me much busier than usual (in a positive way) and I enjoy feeling more like an active participant in my life instead of watching others live theirs. Everything hasn’t been perfect since I stopped watching television. Yesterday, Day #7, I definitely watched the clock and thought about looking at television after midnight. But the desire wasn’t something strong and I didn’t feel like I was missing out if I didn’t turn on the TV. I’m split on whether I will continue the Television Free Minimalism Week for an extended period of time. I watched about an hour of TV today and caught up with some events going on in the sports world. If there is one this exercise has made me realize, it’s TV is a master at tricking people into thinking they are missing out on something. I know I felt this way. But my life quality improved without television — it can’t be a coincidence. With football season only 5 weeks away, I know I’m going to watch. So I’m leaning towards declaring Sunday as my TV day and letting go of the rest.
Advice If You Are Thinking of Giving Up TV:
1) Rent It - What I mean is don’t think you have to go cold turkey for 6 months. Try living without TV for a week or two just to see how you feel and what changes occur. Don’t feel like you’re locked in forever. If you find TV is adding value to your life, than there’s no harm in watching.
2) Stay Busy – Boredom can easily lead to the desire to scratch the TV itch. You gain additional minutes that were previously devoted for TV. So you will quickly realize that you seem to have more time on your hands. Find ways to keep busy. I found it challenging at first but much easier and fun as the week progressed.
3) Tell Other People – I think one of the things that helped me was making my goal widely known. I didn’t want to have to face people and tell them I couldn’t make it. A little social pressure doesn’t hurt.
I like t.v. for things that make me laugh, like the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, to watch movies, and to catch sporting events like the World Cup. But I don’t like it on all the time, I mute commercials, and keep news programs to a minimum.
I’ve lived without t.v. for great lengths of time in the past, and could do so again if i chose. There’s plenty of other things to do with my time, particularly reading!
Hey Meg! If Jon Stewart and Colbert ran for office as a team, I would cast a vote. I do admit, they are entertaining AND informative. They do the job real news is supposed to do. (But I digress). I think keeping news to a minimum is key. I think television news is significantly damaging to the psyche seeing the ugliness of the world night in and night out. I think it’s key in your case that you have the knowledge to fall back on that you can give up tv when you need to. In my case, I didn’t really have that background knowledge as a cushion. Another thing I have been doing while not watching TV is reading at Border’s bookstore. If you get a chance, check out a great book about Pres. Obama called, The Bridge. It’s a new bestseller and its phenomenal.
Good job on the TV free week, Reggie! Those first few days are hard when the routine is so automatic. One of your observations–that TV watching is so ingrained in your habits–reminded me of my husband’s comment: If the habit is easy to break, it’s probably a good habit; if it’s HARD to break, it’s most likely a BAD habit.
That mock interview is sounds like a great idea!
Hey Willow thanks for the congrats! Those darn ingrained habits! I wish you could have seen my face when I reached for the remote without thinking about it. I made an unconscious choice right there and I didn’t even realize it until I was about to turn on the button. I think I read a quote that the more you do something, generally the more you want to do it and vice versa. The more time that went by when I wasn’t watching TV I found it easier.
I had my REAL interview too. It’s at a job that would be a great opportunity for me but this was on Tuesday and I haven’t heard back so… I interviewed for about 2 hours so that’s a good sign. But we’ll see.
Way to go Reggie, you made it. Like Meg I’m selective about TV. Mine is used more for Wii fit than anything else. I also use it for movies. I’m not really into much of the regular programs, and lately haven’t had time to watch any of it. Staying busy is truly a god way to curb the TV habit.
I have never tried Wii Fit but I heard it actually works! I think the way TV’s inherent nature is, idleness is the worst possible thing to face when combating TV watching. I’m glad that you have good control over your viewing habits. I guess that’s also what it’s all about. Keeping television a “minimal” thing and not something that’s a regular activity.
Awesome job, Reggie! My friend read your original post too and commented that it would be extra hard for a sports fan to give up TV. Way to go!
You made some really good point – it really does help to rent a lot of movies or surf the net to get through the initial transition.
So glad to hear about your epiphany on Saturday when you realized how much fun you could have without TV – especially seeing the game live in person! That’s wonderful.
This experience will permanently change your viewing habits in the future – you’re now much more aware – of how reaching for the remote is just reflex, for example. I used to have insomnia and stay up late watching whatever was on. Now I read when I can’t sleep and usually the content is a lot better.
Glad to hear you survived and that it was a success!
Thank you! I’m glad it was a success too. I decided I’m not giving up TV completely, but only tuning in for some sports. Once football season starts, just Sundays. Reading is like life’s natural sleeping pill lol. Something about getting lost in a book in bed makes me sleepy too, and then you just close the book and go to bed.
I’ve been tv free for two years. I am out of sync with most tv programs and I could not tell you the latest adverts…I have become very selective about what I watch and read and if it is worth watching I will see it online. I have come a far way from complete days spent locked down in front of the television as a child. I appreciate good conversations, reading, introspection and in general I’m just more open to new experiences. I love it!
Hey Danique – thank you for making you first comment on People Not Stuff. 2 years TV free is awesome! I think that shows that a) it can be done and b) it gets easier as time goes on. I enjoy those same activities. I’m an only child so things like introspection and reading comes naturally. I like having good conversations too and conversations are so much better when they are REAL, instead of scripted like on television. I will try to update on how I personally am doing with my television habits and I hope you will also.
Hey Reggie!
Nicely done!
You raise a very good point. Relying on technology is so ingrained in our systems that it’s hard for us to realize how much we rely on it.
What amazes the most? Cellphones! A little more than 10 years ago, not everyone had a cellphone and yet today, not having one seems, um, how can I be diplomatic about this…silly. It would be very interesting to see how one of us generation-yers could do without a phone for a week!
Anyway, nice job. TV is overrated!
Hey Sophie — I am happy you stopped by! Cellphones are amazing. I’m 23, 24 next month and I recently realized that my generation is the last who is going to remember growing up as kids without the Web or cellphones being mainstream. Cellphones today are basically tiny computers and I definitely usually have my cellphone with me. It would also be interesting to see if Generation Yers value our computer/laptop more or television.
Hi Reggie,
I’m a new reader and I just wanted to help answer your question about Gen Y people and their TV vs. Computer. My husband and myself are only a few months older than you, so I think our opinion might help. I know that for us, the computer is much more important than TV. I’ve always said that if I had to, I could give up TV but not the computer. I use it to keep in touch with friends and family, read inspiring blogs and play video games (which we like to do together as well). My husband is a web developer, so for him it’d be an easy decision. He could not survive without a computer, period. I’ve always been a much bigger TV watcher than him and he was planning on going without one during college until my parents bought one for him (they are huge TV watchers and thought it was crazy that he was going without). TV has actually been taking over my life up until recently, because work has been very stressful and I used that to help. However, 17 days ago I decided to try 1 month with almost no TV. I’m allowed to watch 2 hours per week (my two favorite shows) and that’s it. 17 days in and I’ve forgotten to watch those shows this week, because it’s so natural not to watch it, lol! I’ve been spending more time with my husband, more time reading and more time trying to organize/minimize my home. It’s going so well that I’m thinking about getting rid of cable when this is over. We still have netflix, which we get streaming on our PS3, but that doesn’t have the same “sucking me in” effect that cable TV has. I’m not 100% sure I’ll take the plunge yet, but each day that passes makes it easier to think about.
Alright, sorry I wrote a novel here! I guess I just wanted everyone to know that if you’re addicted to TV, breaking the habit does make life a whole lot better. I feel like I gained so many hours in my day!
Thanks for the Gen Y minimalist perspective; I like knowing I’m not the only one my age who is on a path to become more minimalist and consume less.