I’ve been struggling with distractions the last few weeks. For me it always starts in one of two ways: either I start watching tv, Netflix or movies, or my workload at work gets very heavy.
The last few weeks I’ve been hit with a double whammy. Work got very busy with multiple clients. Part of that was my own fault for not managing my time better in December and early January. So instead of using my own quiet time in the morning to do the miracle morning routine, I spent it working. I worked in the evening too, which meant I didn’t get much down time. Then when I did get down time, I reverted to my default bad habit and turned on the tv.
Now, I’m not saying that hard work is bad or that tv is bad. But sometimes I have a hard time setting good limits for myself. Especially when it comes to tv/movies/Netflix, it’s easy for me to binge. The best solution is to just not turn it on. Once it’s on, it’s very difficult to turn it off. Also, once I turn it on, then it’s easier for me to turn it on the next day.
Case in point. When I travel for work, it’s easy for me to avoid the tv as long as I never turn it on. I haven’t turned on a tv in my hotel room since baseball season ended. I broke that streak this week. One night I was tired and had some lighter work to do, so I thought that I’d turn it on and just have it on in the background. I started with my laptop in my lap, working and watching, but I soon found that I was watching more than I was working. Soon after that, I just put the laptop away.
It is kind of like a drug for me.
Escape doesn’t have to be a bad thing. One of the people I follow tweeted this week that bingeing Netflix doesn’t have to mean that you’re not in balance. That’s true, but it’s up to the individual to keep it in balance. I have failed to do that this week.
If work and escape are the only two factors, then maybe I am in balance. The problem is that the tv replaced exercise and meditation, and reading and writing. These are things that I like doing. So in that sense, my balance was not maintained.
The shows that I watched didn’t even really make me happy. Some of them were sitcoms that I’d seen before. Another was a movie that was a sad trope that’s been overdone.
I’m home next week. I’ll have time to regroup and reset. I’ll have time to get caught up on my work projects and add other activities into my life.
Gary Vaynerchuk says that video games, tv, and reading are all fine if they make you happy. Sadly, watching tv didn’t make me happy.
Next time, I hope I remember this and resist turning it on.
Image courtesy of pixabay.com
I get this. I’ve found that both TV and political commentary are like drugs to me, the way social media is to some other people.
When I was a senior in high school I worked at a convenience store and got all the free fountain drinks I wanted. It wasn’t long before the mental signal “thirsty” could only be satisfied with sugar. That makes hardly any sense – as if feeling tired would send me running to the bathroom. When I started college I saw fountain pop machines and swore them off entirely. I didn’t drink from them once in three years of going to the cafeteria. With my weaknesses, it’s gotta be all or nothing.
As for that illusive pleasure–work balance, I agree with you and Gary: if you’re genuinely happy doing something, don’t feel compelled to do otherwise. Turning that thing, whatever it is, to good use beyond mere pleasure is a good way to make an activity more satisfying.
At the same time, it’s worth asking whether it’s a good idea to be satisfied with my leisure activities. I’d like to be the sort of person who only found a release in edifying behavior. I’d like to be able to relax by reading a book, but somehow reading anything worthwhile has found its way into the “work” category in my brain. I’m trying to listen to audiobooks when I want to relax. It’s tricky because knowing it’s better for me than TV or politics, I instinctively avoid it.
Sometimes all or nothing is the way it must be. You’re in quite the catch-22 with the satisfying leisure activities vs. knowing it’s good for you.