
How Dumping TV Allowed Me to Quit My Job - pj
http://www.savingadvice.com/blog/2007/07/17/101625_how-dumping-tv-allowed-me-to-quit-my-job-create-an-online-business-and-fund-my-retirement-account.html
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edw519
Excellent post! Especially relevant to this audience.

When I read "How to Get Rich" by Felix Dennis, I made a list of 10 things I
had to do to affirm my commitment. "Get rid of my TV" was #1. I did it and it
has made a huge difference. A few points:

\- I put a radio next to my computer. It's much easier to work with radio than
with TV.

\- I watch a couple of shows with my mother and SO on _their_ TVs, not mine. 2
to 3 hours per week.

\- I only watch sports at a sports bar. If I'm going to spend 3 hours and $50,
I think long and hard about _which_ games are really important. I have also
made lots of new friends at Steeler bars. I can't imagine watching a game
alone ever again.

\- Someone please let me know if Michael and Lincoln are still alive when
"Prison Break" ends its run in 3 weeks. This was my last "favorite show".
There will not be another.

~~~
cmos
I also watch sports at my local bar.. now I have a whole different 'genre' of
friends who happen to not spend their day in front of a computer. Socially, it
has been quite a learning experience!

If you lack self control with regard to TV watching I can't recommend enough
how much better your life will be. If your scared, try cutting the AC power
cord. Give it a week.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
_If your scared, try cutting the AC power cord._

Be sure to unplug it first :)

~~~
demallien
Be sure to unplug _and_ if it's an old crt, wait for an hour or so - those
tubes can carry a heck of a static charge!

~~~
varjag
It will not discharge on AC cord.

~~~
demallien
That may be the theory, but believe me, in practice it's not always true. I
ended up with a reprimand on my service record when a technician working for
me in the Air Force did precisely this, cutting the ac cord, with a pair of
uninsulate scissors, which then went flying across the room. The reprimand was
because I hadn't put measures in place to stop technicians using uninsulated
scissors for technical work - fair enough.

I'm guessing that the ground wire in the cable hadn't been correctly hooked up
to the ground pin in the plug, a not uncommon flaw in cables...

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drsnyder
Great article! Recognize though that time is not fungible. For example just
because you stop watching tv from 9pm to 10pm doesn't mean your going to be
productive <insert task> in that same block of time after working a full day
at your day job.

Based on a lot of our responses, I think a lot of us are just substituting web
surfing for watching tv (self included). So how do we keep from just
substituting another time sink for tv? How much time do we waste "web surfing"
in the evening when we could be doing something else more generative?

~~~
mannicken
> So how do we keep from just substituting another time sink for tv? How much
> time do we waste "web surfing" in the evening when we could be doing
> something else more generative?

It's not necessary. I personally just do what I want, whenever I want, and
don't concern myself with "productivity". If I feel like watching TV for days,
hell, I do. Other times I feel like creating something: well, I just take out
my Emacs and start coding for hours. If I feel like working, I'll work and
earn money, if I don't I just quit and spend money.

That's the good part of being a grown-up. You get to do what you want :)

Life is too short to waste it on meaningful things. And usually meaningful
means "following what other people say" anyway :)

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pkulak
So people would be more productive if they worked during every waking hour?
Amazing. I enjoy watching a good movie or ball game. Life isn't just about
working. You have to spend some of the time you have here enjoying yourself.

~~~
joe_the_user
Uh,

I agree with the point that you shouldn't spend all your time _working_
instead of watching TV. But I would object that TV often only gives an
illusion of pleasure and relaxation.

[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=television-addiction-
is-...](http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=television-addiction-
is-n-2002-02&page=1)

~~~
nebula
_But I would object that TV often only gives an illusion of pleasure and
relaxation._

Sorry for nitpicking; This is a little confusing use of the word object. You
are actually saying that "TV often only gives an illusion of pleasure and
relaxation.". Using 'I would argue/say' instead of object would have been
better.

+1 for the reference.

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0xdefec8
For me, TV is the opiate of the masses that numbs my brain after a long day
quicker than booze, god, or exercise. Replacing it with a second job is about
as likely as giving up weekends and vacations.

~~~
kirse
_numbs my brain quicker than exercise_

Sounds like you're not running fast enough. =)

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tomsaffell
> _Decide on any exempt shows: There may be few shows that you feel are
> educational and want to encourage yourself and your other family members to
> watch._

That's exactly what I have done. _Family Guy_ is exempt, _Seinfeld_ is exempt
if it's one I haven't seen before (I'm new to the US, so I still have that
occasional joy)

~~~
electromagnetic
I _only_ watch shows that are exempt, I do this by watching solely on an off-
cable medium. Not having the advertising helps to see more shows in less time.

All movies are exempt for me, however again I usually only watch DVD's. I came
from the UK where TV always shows complete episodes, not the syndicated crap,
and movies aren't cut and edited to death. I believe when I first came to
Canada most stations still cropped the picture in movies, I never even knew
anyone did that, because on a PAL set the quality is high enough to keep the
letter box format, so the switch to NTSC cemented the death of TV.

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axod
Keep your TV. It'll keep you in touch with popular culture for a start. Which
is handy if you want to sell things to the 'masses'.

I know it's popular on here to hate TV, but this is bs. If you actually make a
conscious decision on what you want to watch, assuming you have access to
quality programming, then it's extremely useful. You really can't quantify the
amount you learn from movies, educational tv, comedy, music etc etc

The problem is when people go into a state when they just watch something they
don't really want to watch, doesn't teach them anything, and just wastes their
time. But that's not a fault of having a TV, it's just a fault of those people
misusing it.

~~~
bawr
And likewise, watching selectively is even easier with some peer-to-peer
networking and file sharing sites. You can see almost any show you happen to
fancy at the moment - and you get to skip the commercials or pause when
convenient. Also, most of the time your watching habits aren't recorded by
shady companies for unspecified marketing reasons. Even better, there's
absolutely no chance of accidentally ending up watching something you didn't
plan to, which is the main idea behind corporate TV.

Also - as far as this individual is concerned, popular culture is overrated.

~~~
axod
>> "popular culture is overrated."

My point is that if you want to have a business, that interacts with people,
you better understand popular culture.

~~~
aswanson
Absolutely correct. That sneering attitude toward the masses is a ticket
straight to the poorhouse. I want to understand them better than the
understand themselves.

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nolanbrown23
I'm actually getting rid of my TV when I move. It's not worth the cost, plus
90% of what I watch is on Hulu the next day anyway. I've also thought about
buying a Slingbox and hooking it up to my parents cable if I really miss some
shows that aren't on Hulu. There are some amazing gems of entertainment on TV
but the ridiculous cost is what bothers me ($42 for basic cable, WTF comcast).

~~~
Femur
>I'm actually getting rid of my TV when I move.

I highly recommend this. I've been watching my 'exempt' shows on my laptop for
over a year. I'm not quite sure if i will ever have a TV again.

~~~
edw519
"I've been watching my 'exempt' shows on my laptop for over a year"

I thought about this, but for me, this doesn't count. Even if the screen is
part of a computer, it is _still_ a "TV". Separating my dev and internet
machines has made this a moot point.

~~~
Femur
This is a really good point; I hadn't considered that view. So on your
internet machine, do you consider 'mindless internet surfing' watching TV?

I also keep my work and internet machines separate.

~~~
edw519
"do you consider 'mindless internet surfing' watching TV?" No.

    
    
      Activity                  Value Reasoning
      ------------------------- ----- -------------------------
      watching TV                  0  totally passive
      mindless internet surfing    1  you do some initiating
      actively working             9  usually produces benefits
      reading Hacker News         10  basic research :-)

~~~
Femur
We should be friends.

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bawr
By never developing a TV habit and instead relying on the internet to provide
me with the few things I find enjoyable to watch, I've managed to reach a
stage when I'm surprised that people actually watch TV, given the choice. If
you've never done so before, try living for a week without your usual
multimedia hit, there's a fair chance you'll like that extra few hours.

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PostOnce
On the other hand, some people watch TV because they just want to relax and
not work every waking hour.

I use the computer for that rather than TV, but still, killing time is killing
time.

~~~
mahmud
TV doesn't make you relax, it agitates you to no end.

I tend to live overseas every other year or so, and whenever I come back to
the U.S. I'm surprised by the abnormal, loud booming voice of the announcers
and crass sensationalism. Why are BBC anchors so human, calm and collected,
while CNNers come off as very emotionally involved, and almost nudging you to
participate and mirror their reactions?

~~~
gnaritas
TV != news programs.

TV can most certainly be relaxing, it all depends on what you like to watch.

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paul7986
If Im in front of a screen I prefer to be learning, interacting, creating and
or conversing with those in my inner circle.

TV lacks all the above minus learning when watching PBS and other similar
channels.

I do watch free Internet TV; a few shows on Hulu & other sites!

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javanix
I don't know about anybody else, but there are only one or two shows that I
can handle watching - I don't think I could watch more than 2 or 3 hours a
week _total_ , let alone in one day.

~~~
omnivore
Same. I might watch an hour of television combined in a week unless they're
something specific I want to see. And that's rare these days.

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electromagnetic
This is probably great for him, I rarely watch TV anymore, but I still watch a
lot of series on DVD and such. However, in the space of 60 minutes, I can (for
example) watch 3 episodes of The Simpsons or Futurama, not the 2 I'd get on
TV.

I probably still watch the equivalent of about 3 hours of TV a day, just it's
compacted into 2 hours. The other hour I can read a book, and a lot of the
time I leave shows running on my media server just for some background noise.

I hate radio DJ's, so quite young I picked up the habit of using TV not radio
as a tool for background noise. It's probably a bad habit, but I find in
residential areas (I grew up in the quiet of the country) I get highly
distracted by noises outside.

It is a compelling argument that if you dropped the 3+ hours of TV a day, you
could make an extra $10K on minimum wage (here in Canada it would be about
$16K on minimum wage). However, this advice might work great for one person,
however if everyone in the country suddenly decided to cover 30+ hours a week
of extra work, it would probably further collapse the economy. There's not
enough jobs to go around the people we have already, if people suddenly double
their hours then lots of people would likely loose their job.

~~~
benmathes
>There's not enough jobs to go around the people we have already, if people
suddenly double their hours then lots of people would likely loose their job.

There is not a fixed amount of work to do. If the author of this article just
watched TV instead of creating the blog network that he did, he wouldn't have
put anyone out of a job.

~~~
electromagnetic
In the immediate, yes there's a very finite number of jobs. If there was an
unlimited supply of jobs, not a single person in the world would be
unemployed.

Jobs are tied to the economy, until the economy grows there can't be more
jobs. The system might handle a flux of 10% new workers (either from a bizarre
immigration mistake or a ton of people working over time or double full-time
jobs) however, resources are finite. All 300 million people in the USA can't
overnight get a second job.

In certain sectors there's probably great ease in getting a second job.
However, there's not 300 million minimum wage jobs going.

~~~
benmathes
I agree with that point, and perhaps I was a little callous in my original
(grandparent) comment. The demand for workers is often very inelastic because
it requires someone to figure out new ways to add value that requires workers.

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juliend2
It's been since August that i dont listen TV. It's clear for me that having no
TV really forces me to go out more often, think about creative ways of
spending my time. I surely have more time for personal hacking projects.

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shiro
I feel ambivalent.

Personally I don't watch TV at all but I do work for TV projects time to time.
I started my career in a TV production (part-time CG programmer), and still
get projects with some connection to TV time to time. TV industry itself
supports quite a few jobs, and the industry depends on those who spend long
hours watching TV.

That won't be an excuse to creating dumb content just to make people addict,
but suppose all the people stop spending time on passive entertainment and
spend it on "productive" activity instead, who will consume their "products"?
I just wonder.

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chris11
It's a little harder to get rid of your tv when it has basically been
completely replaced by a laptop. I do use my laptop for productive, and so I
don't think I would really want to get rid of it.

Otherwise, it sounds like great advice. I'll have to give up tv shows and
movies for a few weeks to try it.

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webnrrd2k
I saved a lot of time and improved my marriage by paying someone else to have
sex with my wife. He is cheaper and better, and now I have even more time to
send working!

Really, I'm not trying to say that giving up TV is a bad idea, just that it's
easy to forget what's important in life.

------
DanielBMarkham
I've been through several phases in regards to TV.

When I was younger, I enjoyed following a lot of shows and comparing notes
with my friends. Then I got older and found I had a few favorite shows that I
watched whether friends were watching them or not.

I then went through a phase where I felt TV was important for cultural
intelligence -- knowing what's popular and what isn't. Sort of a cheap way to
fit in with popular society without actually having to meet people.

Then I went through a History Channel/Science kick. I found you could watch
all kinds of cool science-related stuff on cable almost ad-infinitum. Curious
as to what the world would look like if people disappeared? Cable's got that.
Want to know the role of tanks in WWI? Cable's got that too.

It was all kinds of stuff that _appeared_ to have some science value. I could
justify it by saying, "Hey, I'm learning important facts about the migratory
patterns of African Swallows here."

For the last couple of years I've been in the "I control the input" stage.
That is, I watch only things that I have planned to watch ahead of time and
only on Tivo/DVD. I hardly ever watch "unprotected" TV -- just me and the
remote.

Finally, because of this board, I've decided to cut out TV entirely except for
movie-watching every other weekend or so. After a couple of months of doing
this, I can attest that it is one of the better decisions I've made in my life
-- assuming I can keep it up.

TV is just so much bullshit. All of those years, and all of those tens of
thousands of hours, accomplished me exactly nothing. I'm not even sure they
were relaxing as much as it was simply anesthetizing. TV watching for peer
groups was great if you wanted to fit into peer groups that chatted about
American Idol. Favorite shows became dated. Cable was just a big time suck --
like one of those bug zappers except for idle minds. Pop science is eye candy
and over-generalizations. In fact, the conclusion I reached is that _TV is
something where you will automatically find some kind of reason for watching
whether it really provides value or not_. It was all just rationalization.

When I stopped watching TV I had an awful thought -- what would I do now? I
was used to feeling just slightly bored and pushing a button and being
entertained. I had been trained that feeling bored was somehow abnormal,
instead of a natural impulse that makes people do new things.

If you spent ten thousand hours staring at a stump there would be something
wrong with you. But you can take that same time and watch all the episodes of
the popular shows for the last ten years and accomplish exactly the same
thing: nothing. And by doing that somehow that makes you "normal"

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chanux
It's been long a long time I've dropped the habbit of watching TV. Was not
much of a fan even when I was a kid & then found this line in a productivity
tips article.

"Avoid the tube" - I like to have statements on whatever I do :)

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asmosoinio
Haven't had a TV with capability to watch broadcast for 1,5 years now. Love
the way it has freed up time for other activities (sports, reading, browsing),
which I actually like more.

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rochers
Clay Shirky did a fantastic talk at Web 2.0 last year on this very topic:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoNHIl-QLQ>

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lutorm
Except if you're in academia, where your success is dependent on putting in
all available time but you _don't_ actually make money on it...

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chaostheory
my generation doesn't really watch TV anymore

TV = video games, facebook/myspace/twitter, general web browsing (ex lol cats)

