I watch too much TV.
I watched a great deal as a child and teenager, and, eager to break myself of the habit, happily went cold turkey when I moved away for university and briefly didn’t own a television. When I moved in with a TV-loving friend the hours started to creep back up, but shortly after graduating I got a job that required me to work evenings, and my prime time favourites were stricken from my schedule.
Unfortunately, in the last few years the number of shows I follow has inched up again. In most cases, I have no idea why (though in the cases where I do know why, the reason is generally “Tumblr made me do it”). I recently spent two weeks at a friend’s apartment, and since she didn’t have many channels and I didn’t want to stream my way to an overage charge on her internet bill, I decided to play catch up when I got back home. Even after just two weeks, it felt like a proper chore trying to catch up on all the missed episodes! That’s not right!
The thing is, I don’t really enjoy watching television. I can’t watch it without also doing something else because I don’t find it interesting enough, but I can’t really focus on anything else (even reading or carrying on a conversation) when the TV is on. I’m very selective about which movies I’ll see in theatre because there’s nothing to do except watch. I cannot fathom sitting in a theatre for two hours to watch a rom-com (I can hardly stomach rom-coms to begin with, unless they’re far more “com” than “rom”) or drama. It’s only action movies, horror flicks, and the occasional sci-fi/fantasy film with special effects worthy of an immersive experience that will get me in the door.
So I’m cutting four shows entirely from my “to watch” list, and demoting a half-dozen to my “I might watch it if it’s on Netflix and I’m bored but I won’t really ‘follow’ it” list. I’m still going to have a half-dozen regular shows, but since the seasons are staggered throughout the year, and some have so few episodes that it’s hardly a commitment at all (*cough*Sherlock*cough*), hopefully I won’t find myself fidgeting in front of the television more often than an hour every other day or so.
Because really, if there are so many things I want to do, do I really have time for things I barely even enjoy?







