No TV Day 1

You never realize how many hours are in a day until you live life without television. Sure television can be useful, but more and more it is sucking the life out of Americans, myself included. I thought long and hard about the decision to get rid of TV. I had to ask myself, "What good does TV bring to my life?". The only answer was entertainment. However, lately, that isn't the truth. There really isn't anything interesting on TV. Here's what I'm missing out on:

Mondays: ???? never watched much TV on Mondays
Tuesdays: American Idol (sucks) and Hell's Kitchen (douchebag yelling at wannabe cooks for an hour)
Wednesdays: Ultimate Fighter and DEA (which I throughly enjoy and will continue to do so thru the magic of the internet
Thursdays: Lost (tough to lose this one, but ABC.com carries all the episodes)
Fridays: don't watch much TV on Fridays
Saturdays-Sundays: Sporting events (I have mlb.tv now)

As you can see I didn't watch a whole lot of TV throughtout the week, but it was a constant distraction. Cutting out just those few shows saves me at least 6 hours a week. Add a sporting event and we are talking 10 hours a week in front of the tube.

Yesterday was my first TV free day. I coped fairly well because I don't normally watch anything on Mondays anyway. Tonight, on the other hand will be a test. I don't mind missing American Idol because it's at that point now where the show is monotaneous. They choose a terrible performer and then idolize that performer while the contestants sing bag cover songs written/performed by the chosen performer. Hells Kitchen is also the same thing over and over. Here's a summary of the season so far: "YOU CAN'T FUCKING COOK AND I CAN SCREAM LIKE THIS FOR THE ENTIRE HOUR!"

It amazed me yesterday how much extra time there seemed to be in the day. The TV wasn't even turned on as a distraction when I walked by. I just worked on my chores and went along on my daily routine. Once my daily routine was done, then I had plenty of time to kill before bed time.

I can see where the lack of TV will benefit me in life. For one, I have freed up maybe 10 hours a week that can be converted to productive hours. Maybe I'll allocate a few of those hours to exercise and a few to poker. The possibilities seem endless. I have extra time to work in the yard (which I have been thoroughly enjoying lately), work on the house, hang with friends, work on a side project, go for a walk, etc, etc, etc.

You ever have that person tell you that they just haven't had time to do whatever it was they were supposed to do? Well, maybe suggest to that person that getting rid of the television in the home creates time. I know I'm one of those people always running around saying "I haven't had time" or "I've been so swamped". Truth be told, I have plenty of time, I've just been wasting it.