Personally, I prefer the radio to the television for this purpose, because with television I always find myself fixated on the screen, unable to focus my eyes on the task at hand no matter how silly or inane or uninteresting the broadcast might be. Makes it difficult to knit or other things. I even stare at the screen in restaurants airing sporting events! It’s a ridiculous flaw, I know.

That’s why I hate it when the BF turns on the set and channel surfs first thing in the morning. It’s a jarring introduction to the day, there’s nothing good to watch at that hour AND it’s a huge distraction for me, when I didn’t even turn the thing on!

However, if I say “I don’t watch TV”, people look at me like I have 4 heads, or they accuse me of being elitist (even if I don’t say anything other than “I don’t watch TV”), or pity me as cut off from society, etc. etc. Or they assume I am on their “All media is evil” band wagon and that I also must be a birkenstock wearing organic farmer hippie. What is it about TV, as opposed to all other forms of entertainment, that causes this knee jerk reaction in people, whether they watch it or not?

Television is a tool. You can use it, or it can use you – it’s no different from any non-essential activity that you undertake for leisure purposes. We all have our cultural biases about its general worth, but it fundamentally boils down to what you want to do that’s non-essential.

Best thing about giving up TV? Less exposure to advertisements has meant I end up wanting less. And when I want less, I buy less. When I buy less, I have less clutter to keep up. (Same principle for cutting out magazines that are more ads than content.)

Tivo helped a bit, but most shows have found subtle ways to incorporate brand awareness into their programming.

As for having background noise, well, there’s always music. For creating a relaxing, focused atmosphere at home, I especially like music suited for “meditation” or “healing/reiki/yoga.” Those who like more upbeat music, substitute the genre of your choice.

And here’s a thought: how about SILENCE? …just once in a while. Sometimes background noise is just auditory clutter. If you could hear yourself think, what would you think?

@Erin: I will look forward to your “downscaling” post. I’m another one who did something similar, except that I wasn’t making six figures and I’m working a job that’s pretty routine but frees my time and energy to think and read and write, which are *my* passions in life. Are you interested in downscaling stories from your readers? It appears at least several of us have taken that road!

It’s really about learning to prioritize(like someone else said)…if you’re prone to wasting time, you’ll probably waste it with or without a TV.

While you might be able to watch some television on your computer, you will not be able to (at least legally) watch all TV shows.

As far as enhancing my life through TV is concerned, off the top of my head Good Eats has had a huge impact on my life, and one of Alton Brown’s major imperatives is getting rid of unitaskers and teaching people how to take control of their kitchen.

I highly recommend it. Since you have no TV, you can (not legal!) check it out on youtube. A lot of times I’ll listen to an episode on my phone on my drive home so I can pick up groceries to make a meal that day.

I always enjoy people who don’t have a TV declaring there’s nothing good on. How do they know? They haven’t seen Ugly Betty, The Office (either version), the new Battlestar Galatica, or Mad Men. If they’re renting a TV series on DVD, how is that different? Why not ask someone who lives in Boise about Broadway shows?

I work full-time. I run 50 to 70 miles a week (I’m not very fast — a 70-mile week usually involves about 11 hours or so). I make ice cream one or twice a week. I cook our meals. I enjoy reading comic books. I also watch 2 or 3 hours of TV a day via TiVo — more on the weekend if I watch a baseball or college basketball game. (Yes, I fully acknowledge that it absolutely helps my time management that we don’t have kids.)

Erin, if I did what I loved to do, I’d bankrupt my family in a matter of months. I make good ice cream but opening an ice cream shop would be committing financial suicide (I saw it happen a few years ago to an ice cream shop I loved — between DQ, Friendly’s, Baskin-Robins, and Cold Stone the market is already pretty saturated in my area). I really like living indoors and I’m not willing to give that up. So, instead, I make ice cream for myself, my friends and family, and to bring to social occasions and I enjoy it at that level.

Part of turning a hobby into work is that you’re turning a hobby into work.

signed,

I got up at 4 and ran 20 miles before work and I feel pretty damn smug about that

I like to read books too, but I’m not going to act like reading the latest James Patterson book somehow makes me better than a person who watching CSI.

Likewise, replacing a tv with a computer and dvds…is the same thing as watching tv in my eyes. Yeah, maybe you bypass commercials, but if you’re watching a season boxset of Grey’s Anatomy through download or dvd on a laptop, are you really spending your time better than a person who watched it over broadcast?

All told, I think the internet is much worse than TV as far as wasting time, at least for me. I find myself fooling around on message boards, enthusiast news sites, or doing research for a while, and next thing I know 3 hours have passed.

I have worked in the TV Broadcast industry for over 12 years and have become so sick of it that I have decided to go back to school and get another degree. I can’t tell you how many people I know that work in TV that rarely watch it, including the stations that they work for, or even have many positive things to say about it. This is a weird industry. It seems to attract people that enjoy the actual work that it takes to create the product, but dislike the content of the finished product.
I quit watching TV in college and although there are a few programs that I will watch if my wife has the idiot box on, I will not go out of my way to make an effort to watch them or feel any need/desire to turn the TV on. I know that I get a tremendous amount of things done that I would otherwise be unable to do if I was addicted to the TV. That is what I think it is an addiction. Watch what happens to those who try to stop watching it. My wife gets all cranky like a cigarette smoker craving nicotine when she doesn’t get to watch her shows. It is a weird addiction, but like quitting smoking it is really hard at first, but you get used to it, and going cold turkey is the best way to quit-both of them. Just quit watching it, you’ll feel physically and mentally better within just a few days, you will be able to interact with those around you and get a whole helluva lot more done.
That’s my rant.