On Monday, I realized that I have a problem. I was out for the night and got home late. Instead of getting ready for bed and being responsible, I stayed up for almost two hours watching ‘The Bachelor’, and followed by the ‘Final Rose Ceremony’. I knew that if I found out the winner in the morning on social media, I would not be happy. The next morning I woke up exhausted. Daylights savings and starting off a busy work week with sleep deprivation, I immediately regretted my decision. I re-winded through most of the episode, and hated every moment of watching it, I just wanted to get through it. Why did I feel such a commitment to my television series? It is completely unnatural. I am always complaining that there is not enough time in my days, yet I choose to lose sleep over trashy television.
Hindering Productivity
Today, was one of my more productive days. I woke up early and did a quick at home workout. I got through most of the work I had planned for the day, went to the gym with a friend after work, grabbed a bite to eat and browsed around a few shops. I managed to make it home by nine and have a shower, fold my laundry and sit down with a cup of tea. I thought about turning on the TV and seeing what I could find on my PVR, and that’s when I realized I should probably do without. I am going to give up TV for a week, depending on how it goes, maybe even phase it out completely. I’ll take it one step at a time.
Is Television Harmful?
I googled “How TV affects people”, the findings are pretty interesting. It was tricky to find a reputable site. Apparently it is scientifically proven, that children who watched excessive amounts of TV are more likely to be fat, bullied, bad at math, inactive and prone to misbehavior in the classroom” . Not sure how that study was conducted. It would have to be a very controlled environment to form such a strong cause and effect relationship between the two. However, I did find some more believable scientific theories. Television affect our brain waves. It dulls our sense of critical thinking, and leaves us in a receptive state.
This theory is a common thread throughout quite a few articles. Stating, that by putting us in a vulnerable state, we are more susceptible to advertising. The arguments against television continue. Television also promotes inactivity, it wastes your time and make you dumb. It can also lead to aggressive behavior and can make you tried and depressed. The list goes on. Life Hacks has 11 reasons why you should give up television. Although the majority of these read like opinion pieces. I don’t think giving up television will harm me. I have been feel lethargic, and maybe my Bachelor obsession has something to do with it.
How Do I Make This Scientific
After I made fun of all these articles, for using vague science, I should have a basic metric established. I don’t have a history of aggressive behavior, nor do I think an IQ test would really show a huge variance, in order to best test this theory, is to measure my productivity.
Starting tomorrow I will start recording the tasks I get done when I get home from work. I will continue throughout my week without TV. After the week has been completed. I will go back to my TV watching ways and and record the tasks I get completed that week.
I will keep you posted! I would love to hear your opinions on television!
