The fact that he ditched TV has nothing to do with the device/media itself. I could very easily write the same article about how chucking 'playing guitar' helped me launch my startup.<p>If anything occupies a lot of your time, of course eliminating it will free up time for other things.
If you absolutely must have some form of TV entertainment in your life, just try a 1-week or 1-month binge on Netflix or AppleTV to soak up any relevant or thought-provoking show/movie/doc you must see, then unsubscribe/stop using those services for a year—preferably more—and repeat.<p>I stopped watching TV and most films from 2007 onwards… until Netflix finally came to Canada and I gorged on it like an all-you-can eat buffet for a month or two. I couldn’t believe I missed stuff like Mad Men and Slumdog Millionaire and started to kick myself for not having seen them sooner.<p>But really, I watched those a few years after their release, and they’re still just as great as when they first came out. I may have missed a few water cooler talks about Don Draper’s relationships with his secretaries, but who cares. And while many documentaries I’ve seen during the binge were eye-opening, I didn’t lose big by not being able think critically or apply what I’ve seen immediately after.
I also overdosed on TV and got rid of it around college time. That is, until Netflix came along. Now I'm thinking about unsubscribing from Netflix. I like what he says about needing a break: you just need to exercise another part of your brain. And that is what I've discovered to be the solution for work-life balance: take a break from work, and immerse yourself in family time, so that you can return to work refreshed. You shouldn't feel guilty for missing out on work while with your family, nor guilty for working while not being with your family, as long as there is balance, because you need to satisfy different needs at different times, and it helps you return to full power.
I have cut back on watching TV. Using a DVR helps: not only for skipping commercials but for some reason when I am watching something that is recorded it is much easier to bail out and delete it after a few minutes. I try to watch about 4 hours of TV a week and perhaps 3 movies - this may seem like a lot, but a decrease compared to 10 years ago.<p>My big time sink is reading: I read about 3 technical books a month and about 2 novels. For a mindless vegging-out activity, I like hiking.
When I was six years old my parents decided to move the family to another country, and they left the TV behind (never to buy one again). I've never owned a TV, though I've shared my household with people who would have one in the common area.<p>To this day, TV just absorbs me, I just <i>can't</i> stop watching. I become the caricature of an absent minded drooling zombie. When people speak to me while watching TV I don't respond. When I go to a bar that has any channel on, I zone out of social life.<p>Though I developed what some people might call "good habits" (I picked up cooking and reading as a kid). But I also think TV is <i>culture</i> in it's own merit, in the sense that it's a shared experience. I've seen a lot of people talk about TV shows with great passion, and I'm totally lost on that experience.<p>In the end TV is just a medium, and you choose what to watch. It is true that the quality of most TV shows is appalling (and yet I can't stop looking), but I've found that if I turn it on specifically to watch a show, instead tuning out, I can have a healthy relationship with it.
i actually find that tv makes me <i>more</i> productive. i'm not sure why... i can just put on a season of futurama or arrested development and keep focused/keep coding.<p>without tv, i find i get antsy or distracted. if i put on music, i spend more time air drumming and rocking out than typing.
I've found some truth to this in my own experience. I've actually given up on having cable/satellite/some other system where I can just turn on the TV and be inundated by crappy content. However, I still have a few shows a week I must watch in a timely fashion (via non-cable sources) and then a large DVD library of past seasons that I can use if I feel I need some sort of background activity.<p>My productivity is huge with this set up but I still get to watch my favourites.
LOL - lots of folks defending TV :)<p>I completely agree with Josh though. In my case, I haven't watched more than 30 minutes of TV (usually zero) in a week for probably 10 years now. Instead, during the evenings I worked on my business while my spouse watched TV. Now I have a great business to show for all those hours. Don't have anything to show for the TV-watching hours from the previous 10 years though. YMMV (though you'll never know 'til you try it!)
The proverbial "this." When friends and family ask if I've seen this or that, I usually reply "no," but if pressed ("Turn on channel 6 now! There's a dog driving a lawn mower!") I politely remind them I don't have a TV.<p>The fact is, I do have a small (wait, 32" is small now?) one in the bedroom, but it's hooked up to AppleTV and Roku, for the sole purpose of putting on podcasts and informational videos (like TED Talks or Khan Academy) to fall asleep to.
> To this day, TV just absorbs me, I just can't stop watching. I become the caricature
> of an absent minded drooling zombie....<p>I can relate. But I've learnt to teach myself that TV is like a drug. It can be very relaxing to "turn your mind off" and "zone out" to TV. Sometimes you have had a long day and feel like you "need" some TV to help relax.<p>The truth is that TV is harmful. It is lazy, bad for your health, unproductive and a massive time waste.<p>What is scary is that you can watch 5 shows in a night and then the next day not remember any of the shows. That is why people watch reruns of TV shows - their mind is basically off the whole time so they can watch the same thing over and over.<p>*(TV is fine and healthy in moderation.)
> I just had a momentary burst of willpower that allowed me to get rid of it.<p>Actually it's taken many bursts of willpower for my family to stay TV free. People keep pushing them on us as soon as they find out we don't have one. My brother in law sent us one for christmas one year despite being told we didn't want one. We gave it away. And it seems like every scond person has an old they want us to have because "you can't not have a TV!"
The "Redefining Entertainment" part of this post reminded me of this Rands one, about finding what actually relaxes you:<p><a href="http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2010/06/22/chill.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2010/06/22/chill.html</a><p>(Not that I've tried that technique. Can't find the time with so many things on TV & HN. ;).)
If watching TV is distracting you from working on your company, you don't have to sell your TV, just stop watching it. You're going to be bombarded with distractions no matter what you do. Family, friends, beer, the whole internet in general, all have the potential to be really distracting. But you can't just throw them out or sell them at a garage sale, you need to learn to get stuff done with them in your life as well. If you don't have the willpower to simply turn the TV off, how will you have the willpower to say no to a night out at the bar with friends, or when you open a new browser window and reddit is just a few keystrokes away I'll only check out a few links then it's back to work oh look its 4am how did that happen?<p>Basically, stop blaming TV. TV isn't what's not getting the work done.
I hardly watch TV anymore, because I find all programs of the national TV mindnumbingly stupid. Commercial stations have the same braindead programs. Movies are reduced to vehicles to shove as much commercials before your eyeballs as possible.<p>I still have a TV in my living room, tho. Once a day I watch the news.