Living with Less TV Update

It's been two months since I went on a tangent  admitted how much time I was spending in front of the TV and how I wanted to make a change.  I was turning that thing on about 4-4:30pm everyday when I got home from work and not shutting it off until bedtime.  Was I spending that full 5-6 hours every single day sitting in front of the TV?  Not usually.  But man was it easy to get sucked into a marathon of What Not to Wear reruns (may she rest in peace).

So where am I now?  Did it work?  I'm happy to report that while we're not living TV-free yet (and probably never will), it gets significantly less time that it used to.  We're watching about 1 hour each night; it's still something Drew and I do together before heading to bed.  All of our viewing comes from recorded shows or an episode (or two if it's a shorter show) on Netflix.

And you know what?  I feel so much better!  I'm so much more aware now of what I'm watching and how much I'm watching.  I spend more time outside.  My house is cleaner.  I've read more books in the past month than I have all year.  When the list of cancelled shows was released, I was secretly happy to be able to delete a couple more items from my DVR.  And I haven't read a single article about "which shows you have to watch this fall."  I don't have to watch them, actually.

Like I said earlier, I don't think we'll ever cut the cord completely, but we're definitely moving our time toward other forms of entertainment.  Hopefully this will help us to eventually cut out that horribly expensive DirecTV bill.

What about you?  Have you started watching less TV?  What was your reasoning?

60 Things To Do Besides Watch TV

I'm on this journey to kick my TV addiction and redirect that time to doing other things.  My first step was to go through all of the shows I currently have on my DVR and delete anything that I could live without.  Drew and I went from recording 49 different shows to 23.  (Read more about that process here.)

My new rule is:

I record all of the shows that I really enjoy and are important to me.  This will help me avoid going into zombie-mode.  With this method, my TV viewing should cut down from about 5.5 hours each day to maybe 2 - a show on my own and a show with Drew.  I need to be prepared with a list of things to do with this freed-up time, or I'll fall back into the same trap.  Y'all know I'm all about a list ('bout that list, 'bout that list, no randomness).
 

1. Read a book - Make sure to have some on hand that you have really been wanting to read as an extra incentive
2. Play with the pups
3. Ride my bike
4. Go for a run
5. Practice yoga
6. Cook up something yummy
7. Study your Bible
8. Take a long bubble bath
9. Practice photography
10. Clean out the closet
11. Plan a yard sale with everything you just purged from the closet
12. Take on a home improvement project - I keep of list of projects on my phone that I could choose from
13. Weed the yard
14. Trim the hedges
15. Clean out the attic
16. Clean out the garage
17. Take a walk
18. Put a puzzle together
19. Play a board game
20. Compile a photobook
21. Go shopping
22. Sew - I have a basket full of items that need work
23. Knit
24. Deep clean my car
25. Do a digital deep clean - delete old files, update software, etc
26. Write a blog post
27. Call my grandmas
28. Visit a craft store and pick up whatever speaks to you!
29. Listen to music and do nothing else
30. Take a creative class - cupcake decorating, photography, etc.
31. Learn an instrument (or relearn if you've gotten a little rusty)
32. Volunteer
33. Plan a vacation
34. Take a dance lesson
35. Give the pups a bath
36. Write in a journal
37. Write a list of goals
38. Take a free online class
39. Practice a new hair or makeup look
40. Clean your fridge
41. Teach the pups a new trick
42. Do a Pinterest project
43. Do a social media cleanse - delete anyone that brings negativity to your newsfeed
44. Take a new fitness class at the gym
45. Plan and iron your outfits for the week
46. Rearrange your kitchen cabinets
47. Comment on a blog post your really enjoyed
48. Plant a garden
49. Be a tourist in your hometown
50. Have a picnic
51. Fix that "thing" in your house that's been driving you nuts
52. Do something you've never done before
53. Go to a new restaurant
54. Do something nice for someone else
55. Babysit a friends' kids so they can have the night off
56. Do a crossword or Sudoku puzzle
57. Go to the park
58. Create a blessing bag 
59. Shop for items to donate to a local school or animal shelter (or both!)
60. Take a nap

Whew!  I think this list is enough to keep me busy for a little while, don't you?  This list is pretty specific to me, so I encourage you to make your own lists.  Any time I find myself without anything to watch on TV, I can easily refer to this list and find something to fill that time.  And the thing is, I'm sure any one of these things will bring more joy to my life than another episode of House Hunters.

What is your favorite thing to do besides watch TV?