BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Self Development How Much TV Do You Watch?

You do have a life! You have a life right now! The time to start living and enjoying it is now

How about when you were a child. What did you like to enjoy doing when you played? Playing with clay? Drawing with crayons? Sewing clothes for dolls?

Rosie

How about cutting down on TV a half hour each day? Substitute that half hour with reading, painting, knitting or meditation - something that interests you.

I always remember this saying, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting."

Are you happy with where you're at today? If not, it's time to do something now. Start small and everyday or week add a new activity.

Is there a charity that interests you? I like Lisa's suggestion of making doll clothes - how about for a woman's shelter or hospital?

That's an awesome idea Sharon - shelters are always looking for donation items!

I practically never watch tv anymore- maybe a show before I go to bed at night or a movie- but this is only when my partner puts them on and then I just watch it if really feel like tuning out.

I feel it is too anti productive, I would rather be on here with real people talking about life, or working, or walking, or doing bits towards my goals.

I look back in horror at the hours I used to waste watching soaps - and when I go back and switch them on now ... the story is nearly always the same.

What a waste of valuable time. No lessons learned from the rubbish programs either ... nothing to pass on ...

In fact now, I wonder how I ever found the time?

I only watch funny shows, because I think it's SO important to laugh! So I watch Scrubs, Malcom in the Middle, Frasier, Friends (sometimes)........I think we need to laugh AT LEAST once a day.

It's not a waste of time if you're getting a benefit from watching tv. Even escaping from reality is good for you - as long as you don't escape for 3 or 5 or 9 hour stints!

It definitely is very important to laugh. So many studies have found that laughing gets your entire body to be more healthy!

I suppose the question would then be, why aren't the things naturally in your active life - friends, family, a partner, making you laugh? Shouldn't we be having fun and laughing while we are out walking, enjoying life, having dinner, and so on?

It is sort of sad in a way that a large portion of our culture has to turn to canned videos to find joy!

My television is on from the time I get up until the time I got to bed. I am not always watching it but it is always on. I grew up that way though. My parents were big television watchers and had it on all of the time. When they were not out working or sleeping, they were watching television.

Last night though after wrestling was over, I turned the tv off, listened to some opera and some Mozart and got a few pages of writing done.

Another good idea and this what we wanted to try but the cable wasn't working in our bedroom, is to not have a tv in any of the living areas and just in the bedrooms so the only time to watch tv is when you go to bed. Also for us lazy people, it would take some effort to go into the bedroom in the middle of the day to watch television as well.

A lot more would be accomplished if the only tv's you had were in the bedrooms.

That's interesting because most sleep health studies say you should *never* have a TV in the bedroom. They say it really damages your ability to fall asleep. They say the only things you should do "in bed" are sleep and sex. That way your body comes to be conditioned to think of bed as a fall asleep place and not as a stay awake place.

I've read those instructions in many books and articles on better sleep. I have done a lot of research on ways to fall asleep because I often suffer from insomnia.

Just something to keep in mind!

I watch about 3.5 hours.
I start my day watching about 1/2 hour of the Today show. I tape 2 daytime soaps and do my workouts to them every day, fast forwarding through the commercials (so that's 1.5 hours). I'm doing something productive while the TV is one so I don't know if I would really count this as sitting down watching TV. Then in the evening at dinner time I watch the evening news and Dateline. Then I usually have HGTV on while checking Bella forum and doing other internet searches late at night.