Unplug The Cable, Rediscover Your Life

Since its mass spread in the 1950s, TV has become so ubiquitous so fast that I don’t think most people truly realize the changes it has wrought in our culture. If nothing else, you have to admit that if you choose to devote three hours of your day to watching TV, then that’s three hours less that you have to spend doing something else, even if that something else is merely taking a nap in your hammock.

I stopped watching TV with any regularity about 6 years ago, and the change has become so natural that I’m sometimes shocked when I, for instance, ask a friend, as I did a couple months back, if they’d care to come bowling with a group of our friends, only to have them respond that indeed they would like to, but unfortunately, there is a show on that they simply never miss. What really got me was that they genuinely sounded regretful about not being able to attend, as if their TV was an obligation on the level of a wailing toddler, and in constant need of attention.

The main reason why I gave up TV was more a matter of temperament than practicality; the constant barrage of commercials interrupting every show had a way of really pissing me off, but after reading Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television last year, and recently thinking about what exactly I was doing with all that free time, I realized that my abstinence had brought me some real benefits.

In the book, Jerry Mander, who spent 15 years as an advertiser, including 5 years as president of Freeman, Mander & Grossman, an extremely successful advertising firm, argues that Television is not merely an over-watched medium filled with dumbed-down sitcoms and brainwashing commercials, nor only a neutral instrument that can be used for good or ill, but rather a tool with problems inherent in the technology itself. Mander would have us believe that TVs are dangerous to our health, sanity, and even our democracy. He backs his statements up with numerous studies and some pretty firm arguments which I found to be convincing. Taking one element at a time, one might come to believe that Mander has really overblown things, but looked at as a coherent whole, it’s hard to disagree with his relentless logic.

All the same, the book really deals with the TV in a manner outside the realm of self improvement, and so I’ll restrict myself to two main arguments as to why I think people might consider improving themselves by disconnecting their cable.

The Reasons:

1) First, even though I didn’t realize it until after I quit, watching TV had the effect of robbing me of my passions. Today, even sitting through two hours of TV leaves me feeling drained and listless. I often feel like all I want to do is continue to sit and do nothing. I’ll be completly bored with whatever I’m watching, and yet I simply have no desire to do something else, even if it’s an activity I enjoy. I was not writing that book I always wanted to write, I was not painting a picture, I was not talking to my family.

2) The average American spends 4 1/2 hours a day watching TV. That’s 1642 hours a year, or over two months. I’m quite certain that if I came to you on your deathbed and inquired as to whether you’d like to trade in all those hours you spent staring at a screen for some memories of what you could have been doing: spending time with friends and family, pursuing a beloved hobby, or anything else, that you would certainly choose the later. Two months a year is an immense block of time which you could do anything with. Two months is enough to go from novice to expert in any number of activities, and even if all you do is dabble, it’s still better than doing nothing at all.

While I can’t say for sure that I wouldn’t have taken these up if I was still watching TV, I’ve certainly started a lot of new hobbies since stopping. Three years ago I started running, and have done so about 360 days a year since. Five years ago I started practicing ninjitsu, which involved class two or three nights a week as well as periodic sparing matches and seminars, though I recently stopped to make room in my schedule for some new interests. I started a personal yoga practice 5 years ago and started taking a weekly class 3 years ago. I’ve also been more ambitious and experimental with my extra time. I generally go through about a book a week now, which has lead to further changes in my life. Due to my reading of The China Study, I eliminated meat, dairy, and eggs to improve my health, for instance, and have briefly tried a raw food diet for shits and giggles. I’ve also written up a number of short stories, which was a neglected passion of mine. All of these experiments and changes, even when I decided against adopting them permanently, were extremely worthwhile. You might even say that the time my TV fast has bought me spurred my path of personal development.

How to Do It:
My suggested route of cutting out the TV is to go cold turkey for a set period of time, at least 20 days, but preferably more like 30. Consider unplugging the whole thing and throwing it in the basement until your experiment is complete. This will give you enough time to adjust to your new life without TV. I would suggest against weaning yourself slowly, as the shock of the full loss will give you a very clear view of what has changed. One thing that you should guard yourself against is replacing one addiction with another. If you usually spend a half hour checking you email on the computer every night and you suddenly find yourself spending 3 hours aimlessly searching the internet, you’ll know what you’re doing.

What to Expect:
Most likely, a person that spends four and a half hours a day watching TV is going to be pretty lost without their fix. The first day or so is going to be full of a lot of head scratching. What should you do with yourself? Go to the library and pick up a book, and then, gasp, finish it in a few day. Go out for a walk with your wife (I’ve found that the after dinner walk is one of the most pleasant parts of my day.) Play some tennis, talk to your neighbor, join a book club, get out and experience something new. You’ll probably feel amazed at how accomplished you feel at actually getting things done or shaking things up.

The Aftermath:
When your trial is up, you’ll still be in a world where most people think their screen is the height of entertainment. You may find yourself telling your girlfriend in vain about your newfound Chess skills or exercise habits. Most people will probably not be interested in joining you. My advice is to not go crazy. Perhaps once a month or so I’ll end up watching a few minutes of TV at someone else’s house, and I still use my TV to watch DVDs a few times a month. In fact, some of the best entertainment I’ve found this year was from HBO’s Rome, a TV series which I’ve watched on DVD. If you hear about some promising TV series which you just can’t pass up, just wait for it to appear on DVD. In most cases though, you’ll probably find your old favorites rather stale. So cut off the cable or satellite bill and save a lot of money, as well as a lot of time, over the course of your life.

I think you’ll find, as I’ve come to realize, that your life is dramatically different without the TV. Give it a shot. You’ll probably be pleased, but even if you’re not, you’ve only lost 135 hours of sitcoms.

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