Is Television Limiting Your Life?
by Vin Miller
Despite the fact that many of us are extremely busy, stressed, and deprived of sleep, we somehow manage to watch more television than ever. If you’ve ever wondered why you’re always short on time and why you never seem to accomplish what you’d like, the answer may very well be right in front of your eyes.
According to a report from The Nielson Company, the average American watched a record breaking 151 hours per month of television during the fourth quarter of 2008. This amounts to approximately 35 hours per week which is almost the equivalent of a full time job.
Although television is a convenient source of entertainment, it’s usually mindless, provides little to no meaningful value, and can sometimes be a harmful influence. The following are three reasons why television detracts from the quality of your life and why you should minimize the amount of time that you spend watching it.
Time is Precious
We each have a limited amount of time to accomplish our most meaningful goals and experience a rewarding and fulfilling life. If watching television is what’s most important to you, that’s fine, but chances are that you’d like to do much more with your life.
Most people watch television for pure entertainment, and by doing so, they’re sacrificing precious time to live through the experiences of others. In most cases, these experiences are either stressful, completely worthless, or influential in a harmful way. This is especially the case with reality television which is often centered around people who create drama with everything they do. Unfortunately, it seems that many of us enjoy watching others encounter problems, perhaps because it makes us feel better about ourselves. We also tend to love fictitious stories that are intense and highly exaggerated, and this is probably a result of being bored with our own lives.
The only thing stopping you from living a more balanced, enjoyable, and exciting life is yourself, and sitting in front of a television for 35 hours per week is certainly not going to help. Imagine if you dedicated some of this time to reading more, exercising, preparing healthy food, and getting more sleep. After a few months, you’d likely feel invigorated with new knowledge, better health, more energy, increased mental clarity, a leaner and more muscular body, and an improved sense of overall wellness. You definitely won’t experience any of these benefits from watching television.
If it’s mostly your job that’s holding you back from living a better life, 35 hours per week is plenty of time to learn new skills, discover new passions, and create the opportunity for a new career that’s more exciting and fulfilling. In addition, you could dedicate more time to leisurely activities and hobbies that will provide more meaning and allow you to experience life directly rather than through a television screen.
An Unrecognized Source of Stress
Anything that causes you to be excited, fearful, nervous, anxious, or worried is a source of stress that imposes a physiological burden on your body. Although few people realize it, the intense television programming that is so common today can easily invoke these negative emotions and add to the high load of stress that most people are already dealing with.
Watching the news can especially be a considerable source of stress. The leading story right now from CNN is about a woman who was violently beaten in front of her child. Some of the other headlines include a terror probe, letting guns on Amtrak trains, the strangling of a Yale student, and a gang rape at Hofstra. While it’s highly doubtful that these stories will add any value to your life, it’s very likely that they’ll invoke some unnecessary negative emotions. The news is always full of sensationalized drama that’s sure to affect your mood. You’ll likely find out about all of the important stories that you need to without watching the news. Despite the fact that I haven’t watched the news in several years, I always manage to find out what I need to, and I feel that I’m better off not knowing about most of the ridiculous things that are going on around the world.
Watching television can also consume the time we need to get important tasks done. When this happens and we finally get around to doing them, it’s common to feel panicked and work frantically to get them done. This is yet another source of stress to add to the hectic lifestyle that’s overwhelming many of us and leading to compromised health and adrenal fatigue.
The Power of Persuasion
Although you might think that you don’t pay much attention to television commercials and that they have no influence on you, you’re most likely mistaken. If this were the case, companies wouldn’t be spending enormous amounts of money on them. Most commercials are intentionally designed to inspire a strong desire or a perceived need for the product or service being advertised. For example, you might see misleading commercials suggesting that Cheerios lowers cholesterol, that you can lose weight easily with FullBar, or that taking Aspirin could save your life. Regardless of how effective the product or service actually is, it’s in the best interest of these companies to have you believe that it’s the best solution to your problems, and there’s a good chance that you will.
Drug and food companies run many of the commercials that you see, and unfortunately, they often promote the shortsighted symptom chasing mentality that’s such a significant factor in the development of today’s most serious health problems.
It’s also common for misleading information to make it’s way into regular programming. For example, the popular weight loss show, The Biggest Loser, glorifies the effort of contestants who overexercise and practically starve themselves. Not only is this awful for your health, but it’s an ineffective way to lose weight which is made evident by the many contestants who regained the weight they lost after leaving the show. Unfortunately, this show has inspired many people to follow the same flawed and unhealthy approach, and many other shows are influencing people in similar ways.
Take Responsibility
Although it may sound as if I’m blaming a lot of things on television, that’s not the case. It’s your responsibility to look after yourself, manage your time, protect your health, and be critical of all information. Television is just one of many modern influences that can make it difficult for you to do these things effectively. In fact, other popular sources of mainstream media such as the internet, magazines, newspapers, and radio can have this effect as well. If you’re unable to benefit from these outlets without being negatively affected, the only person you can blame is yourself.
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Vin, I love this article. I’ve repeatedly brought up TV and particularly reality TV and the news as negative influences in our lives. I love the fact that you have devoted an entire in-depth article to it. Thanks!
great job Vin – TV is generally accepted as harmless when in fact its dangerous to the psyche of the viewers and the their physical health … Im reposting the link for my people to read this
Great article!
You have made many good points. I have some friends who refuse to own a TV. That is going a little extreme for me.
What I do to keep those poison peddlers out of my head is tape my favorite tv shows and then fast forward through the commercials.
One show that really gets me aggravated is the daytime show called The Doctors. They tell so many lies and there is so much information given out on that program. When you watch the end of the show..you see the credits rolling and all the pharma and medical companies that are sponsoring them. It’s sickening!
Presently, Dr. Oz (of Oprah fame) is airing his own TV show. I guess it’s good policy to be good friends with Oprah. Dr. Phil’s son is producing “The Doctors”, so it’s one big happy family.
I do like my TV time, but I try to limit it.
Thanks for the article.
Yes media, can be double-edge sword! Sometimes you can learn something new (valuable documentaries, but depending on the channel, can be very distracting, like what you said.
TV is just tainted with politically correct information these days that I rarely watch TV. Yes, an open mind is useful, do not waste time on shows that already contain bad information. Like in Sharona’s comment.
We are responsible for the information that goes to us!
Thank you all for your comments!
Stephen – I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Antonio – Yes, this is a problem that far too many people don’t recognize. Thank you for helping to spread awareness!
Sharona – Recording your favorite programs is a great way to avoid being influenced by commercials, and it’s also a great way to save a bit of time. I’ve never seen The Doctors, but it sounds pretty bad. I’ll have to check it out for a potential article topic.
ægil – I totally agree, we’re the ones who are responsible. We can’t blame our poor decisions on external sources of information that we allow to have an influence. Even books can be misleading in a negative way, and it’s necessary to be critical and objective with whatever we read, hear, or watch.
At one time television in the living room was a place for the family to get together and watch a family program. Now most programming is directed at different segments of the family may be watched separately at different hours in different rooms. And yes Vin TV seems to be more of an overbearing medium for corporate promotion of sales for profit. There is a steep cost in watching television in the loss of valuable social and family communications. And so much of it is junk news and entertainment.
There is a steep cost in watching television, in dollars and in the loss of valuable social and family communications.
“I wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There’s a knob called “brightness”, but that doesn’t work.” – Author Unknown
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Great post Vin.
For a while I used to watch T.V all day everyday, however when I moved to China the cable wasn’t all that good so it was easy to break the habit.
I found that when I didn’t watch T.V I would actually go outside and do something rather than just sit around. I also had the opportunity to buy cheap dvd’s in China so I would watch those without commercials which saved me a lot of time.
As you mentioned 35 hours is damn near a full time job! CRAZY!
Thank you for your comments!
Grampa Ken – Although I think there are better ways to spend time with family, I agree that television can be worthwhile if it promotes family time. However, as you said, that’s typically not the case. I love the quote you left! Fortunately, with the advancement of most cable networks, there’s a lot more interesting and educational programming available now.
Bud – Crazy indeed! Although I do enjoy watching television on occasion, I think it would be torture to watch that much of it.
Hi Vin, I just found your site today and am loving all your posts, since I am of the same mindset as you on all these topics. As for TV, I stopped watching the “news” this past year and feel tons better for it. Like you, I still seem to find out about things I *need* to know. I do NOT need to know about people killed elsewhere, or beaten, or raped, or robberies or whatever they decide is “news.” Such things are tragic, yes, but they do not help my life by knowing about them, and as you point out, knowing about them actually detracts from my life.
I will turn on the TV to watch a few shows here & there—lighthearted fun stuff or HGTV or Food Network, etc—but I never just watch it; I’m usually doing 2-3 other things around the house. The worst part is hearing the commercials…the most horrendous one was the one promoting HFCS as “healthy” because it comes from corn! I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or faint from horror, knowing that there are people who will believe it! That’s as depressing as watching the “news” used to be.
Hi Sara, thanks for your comment! I’m glad that you’re enjoying the site.
After not watching TV for a while, it’s easy to forget how ridiculous some of the advertising is. It seems that almost every time I watch it, I’m shocked by something I see even though I know I should have expected it. As bad as it is, it at least it gives me some good ideas to write about.
Great Post!!! I do not like watching the news. I have been trying my best to really stay away from it ever since I was a child. Like you, I believe that there are other ways of me finding out the things that I need to know without getting emotionally drained by what I see or hear in the media. Funny story, my family tend to tease me about not watching the news and how I really stick to watching one channel. But, its not that I watch one channel, but that I am careful when choosing what I watch on T.V. Everything around us truly has an impact on us, and yes I agree with you, it is our responsibility.
Heh, I’m being a bit contradicting while reading your posts here. I found your site on accident earlier yesterday, and am really glad that I did. Though, here I am up at 2AM when I’m already a person who is lacking sleep.
Like you said in the comments, I definitely think that tv is okay in moderation.
During the summer, tv isn’t as good anyway, so I don’t watch it as much and if anything, when it’s on, it’s merely just there as “background noise/entertainment” while I’m doing other things around the house. So yes, I do have the tv on quite often, but I’m not always sitting down in front of it, you know? But during the fall, I do have my shows that I love, but I also have dvr, so I record everything, and watch when I find the time to.
For someone like me, though, I watch some tv shows because I find them inspiring. I don’t watch too many reality shows, but my favorite genre is sci-fi. So, when I find a really creative and interesting sci-fi show, I find it really inspiring to watch, and therefore it interests me a lot. Ex: my favorite show, hands down, is Fringe. I love the creator of the show, and other shows and movies he’s made in the past. I guess it’s also because I’m studying to work in that photography/film/art/ industry. So in some cases, tv can be like studying, and being inspired!
Kind of like athletes who enjoy watching their sport on tv.
Thus, creating a happier, and more well balanced person! haha
Hi Stephanie, thanks for your comment!
I agree that television can be inspirational in some cases, and I can even relate. I’m an avid tennis player and will be closely watching the U.S. Open during the next two weeks. As is always the case when I watch professional tennis, I’m sure it will fuel my interest for the game. Likewise, watching the 2002 Winter Olympics inspired me to return to ski racing. Although it ended up costing me a dislocated shoulder, it was a great experience that I’ll always value.