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live without a television for a year


 

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How to live without a television for a year by Josh Petersen

"You already waste too much life energy watching television. Unplug it. Put it in the basement and get that time and energy back."

How I did it: My family never thought of ourselves as big television viewers. We had basic cable and a 32 TV in the living room.  No other TVs.

When Tivo arrived on the scene we thought of it as a great improvement.  It let us watch what we wanted, when we wanted.  When our first child was born, the Tivo let us queue up the teletubbies for her.  And that was the beginning of the end for the television in our house.  Add to that the advertising, even the little corporate sponsorships before a PBS show, and we had several good reasons to pull the plug.

We canceled the cable bill (a great savings incentive on its own) and we unplugged the set and put it in our basement storage room. It might have taken a week to adjust to the different reality, but it was almost immediately better in every way.  

Now that it has been 5 years with no TV in the house, I have to say it has been one of the greatest changes we ever made as a family.  We all got more time together. More time for reading and playing games and talking with each other.  We are less exposed to inane TV nonsense.  My kids have never seen a reality TV show or a Hannah Montana anything.  And that's a good thing.

We haven't eliminated video media out of ourlives altogether. We still watch movies or DVDs on a computer.  In this format it is easier to control the content that is viewed and there is no tie to any schedule.  

Irony of ironies is that we are now making plans for a family room with a big screen, but we plan on building it around an AppleTV and won't include cable channels or any sort of broadcast television.  I think the real issue for us is getting rid of thinking about television as a thing you have to keep up with or follow.  Screening a movie as a family has a totally different feeling than following a TV series.  And of course being free of advertising is huge.

Lessons & tips:

  1. Unplug and cancel cable in one swift move while you have the momentum. The hassle of reinstating cable might be enough to keep it turned off.
  2. Move the TV out of the watching room, but store it someplace you can get to later. This might keep the TV fan in the family from totally freaking out.
  3. Remind yourself often how much more time you have and how glad you are not to be watching ads or paying for cable.


3 people found this helpful
 

Sep 09, 2008, 02:33PM PDT | 2 comments | 9 cheers



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Bigmighty is wasting time in the Net.

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How I did it: I moved to Connecticut to an apartment by myself, and I didn't own a TV. So, when I got there, I did not buy a TV and decided to try life without TV for a year. It made me devour reading material: I would read two daily newspapers, 3 weekly magazines, four monthly magazines and still run out of "stuff" to read. My apartment was always spotless, and they new me by name at the local bar.  Read how I did it…

Jun 23, 07:07AM PDT | 0 comments | 2 cheers


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    People doing this are also doing these things:

    Entries

    Ruzillo25

    Untitled 3 weeks ago

    I lasted 6 months… I can do a year…

    Jun 17, 11:21PM PDT | 0 comments


    petroschka is in berlin

    Untitled 5 months ago

    I have lived without a Television for most of my grown up life.
    However, the last couple of years I started watching Series and Films on my Computer. I prefer it to Television because I make my own program.

    Feb 08, 03:06AM PST | 0 comments


    mondayrowing has the internet again. Get ready, y'all.

    Untitled 6 months ago

    Oh man. This is so unexpected.

    I’m actually doing this.

    I went pretty much all of December without turning the TV on. The two times I did were when Rod Blagojevich was arrested and the Chicago Tribune hadn’t yet reported on it, and when my boyfriend insisted on watching Dick Clark on New Year’s Eve. It helps to keep it unplugged and on the floor where it’s not particularly comfortable to watch it.

    So far so good. But Lost starts in two weeks…uh-oh…

    Jan 08, 08:53AM PST | 5 cheers | 0 comments


    jess jess jess is so sleepy!

    maybe soon 6 months ago

    i should be moving in february…and won’t be bringing a TV with me. not sure how much the new roomies watch though…it might end up being tough to do.

    Dec 28, 08:29PM PST | 2 cheers | 1 comment


    mazzy2810

    Untitled 8 months ago

    I want to live without TV for at least a year as a personal challenge to myself. TV is a huge distraction for me, and every time i watch it I land up with feelings of low self-esteem. The talk shows are about how to do a million a things at once and still win a nationally acclaimed award for being a stressed out ego maniac.I just want to experience life for what it is , and that means having the right to just live and be alive. TV takes me away from that. so here goes, starting today the 28th October 2008 all TV’s are off and I am on.

    Oct 28, 08:12AM PDT | 1 cheer | 0 comments


    Goldenpaperclip is thinking about my life goals

    I made it for a year without television 8 months ago

    I would encourage anyone to try to go for a year without television. I completed the feat in 2007 but I will tell you that it was very challenging. The biggest obstacle was that I am (was) a huge sports fan. I love baseball and missed my first All Star game and World Series since I was a baby. Also the Super Bowl. But part of my goal was to devalue sports from my life. Honestly, what has sports got me since high school? I spent the year thinking up ideas and adventures, I also decided to start bartering after I read the book (lots of reading during the no TV year) a book called One Red Paperclip where a guy trades up from a paperclip to a house. My goal is to go from a paperclip to an SUV. My angle was a celebrity paperclip so I got one from Donald Trump. You can follow my adventure at www.goldenpaperclip.com and if you are thinking about going without TV for a year, trust me, you wont regret it!

    Oct 22, 07:38AM PDT | 1 cheer | 0 comments


    Melanie

    Untitled 8 months ago

    When I live alone I don’t want one, and I seem to roommate-up with people who think TV is brain-rot, so it hasn’t been hard. But the effect of going without TV for most of nearly four years is that when I do turn on the box it BLOWS MY MIND. Have you SEEN the COLORS on CSI:Miami?! Feels like a religious experience. c :

    Oct 19, 02:08PM PDT | 0 comments


    Don Schenck is working ... what else?

    Nine years 11 months ago

    Went TV-less for nine years while raising our children. It’s life-changing and HIGHLY recommended.

    When you don’t have a TV, you can’t imagine having one. You wonder, “How do people even have the time to watch TV?”

    Do it; you won’t regret it.

    Aug 14, 2008, 11:02AM PDT | 1 cheer | 0 comments


    Mike Reynolds

    10 Months and going Strong 11 months ago

    I don’t have Television and don’t miss it. I do use the internet to watch vidio I want to watch.

    Jul 30, 2008, 10:26PM PDT | 1 cheer | 0 comments


    caitmonster

    TV Free Challenge 11 months ago

    In high school one of my teachers challenged his students to go a year without watching tv. I decided to do this spur of the moment, but I did accomplish it.

    Jul 28, 2008, 09:17AM PDT | 1 cheer | 0 comments


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