Back Down to Earth

I have a confession to make.  Even though I've cut TV out of my life, I still struggle with wasting time.  Overall, suspending my daily TV ritual has resulted in a net positive of productivity, but I'm definitely not a super productive hyper-achiever. In fact, my talent for procrastination makes me wonder if the TV was just a scapegoat for a fundamental character flaw.  Maybe I'm the world's most prolific time waster, and even if I were alone on a desert island with no technological gadgets, I would still manage to fritter away the day playing "hide the coconut."

I'm still feeling very positive about my experience, and I'm optimistic about the future, but I also think it's important to be honest.  And so I submit a list of the top 3 time thieves that are threatening to take the place of TV in my life.

1.  Facebook.  I used to be secretly proud of my minimal Facebook involvement.  I would think, "I don't have time to check up on every person whose kid just did something cute, or who just ate a hamburger that was 'SOOO GOOD!'  Who's even interested in stuff like that?"  Me.  I am.  I want to know, and I have some spare time.  So please tell me:  What did you do today?  See anything interesting on YouTube?  Your 18-month-old daughter said what?  That's adorable!

Carefully drawn graph illustrating the increase in my Facebook involvement.

2.  Online news.  With Yahoo!, Drudge Report, and ESPN.com, who even needs TV?  There is so much information to be consumed, and I have a desire to devour all of it. This is a challenge that is greatly exacerbated by my new iPhone.  If only I had kept my stupid Blackberry with its clumsy design, spotty service, and non-WiFi capability, I wouldn't be having this problem.

3.  This blog.  Now, I actually think that this blog is one of the best and most productive consequences of my no-TV experiment so far.  I feel really good about creating my own content instead of consuming someone else's for a change.  However, I really have to keep myself in check to make sure I don't obsess over the details. Layout, comments, page views, traffic sources, etc.

I had my first real test this week to see if I could ignore these growing distractions and get some work done. Chêz left the house for the evening, which means that once I put my daughter to bed for the night, I had a couple of hours all to myself.  What would I do?  Well, I got sucked into the vortex of Yahoo! for about an hour before I even knew what happened. I snapped back to my senses and did some stuff around the house, but I was disappointed that I didn't do more.

Since publicizing my no-TV resolution, I've had a few people tell me "You're a stronger man than I am," but I don't see it that way. To me, it's a confession of weakness. An admission that I can't live a life of moderation when it comes to this. For me it's either a life of abstinence or of slavery. I wish I had the fortitude to pick a point in the middle, but I'm not there yet, and now I'm fighting the same battle on new fronts.   

So there you have it.  I'm not perfect yet, and I expect I never will be.  But on the bright side, at least I didn't spend 3+ hours of my life this week watching Alabama attempt a mind-numbing 7 field goals in the BCS Championship game.  Definitely not sorry I missed that one. :)