"No TV" Taking Hold

Several of you have been kind enough--or concerned enough--to inquire how our month of no TV is going. The answer is really, really well.

I should fess up and admit that our month of no TV is not quite as stringent as I made it out to be. The purpose behind unplugging the TV was to rid us of the mindless channel-flipping that permeated our evenings. We never flipped on the TV intending to watch two hours of The Food Network, but who among us can resist a National Cake Bake Off? We were weak...

So the pact we made is that while we can't watch regular TV with commericals, we are allowed to pop in a movie OR tape a show we want to see and watch it later without commercials. The surprise however, is that after we tape a show and let it sit for a couple of days, neither of us are all that interested in going back and watching it. After having the TV off for a week, we really started to enjoy it. After my Lasik surgery, I wasn't allowed to read or get on the computer for the night but I could watch TV and close my eyes on commercials, so we lifted the TV ban for the night. I watched one hour of Oprah and had a headache. Turned the TV off and haven't missed it since.

I am AMAZED at how much more focus I have, how much calmer I feel, and most of all, how much TIME I feel has been added to my day. I wasn't watching all that much TV before, but knowing I wanted to watch an 8PM show made me rush through dinner, exercise, or whatever so I could be "ready" to watch my show. It's hard to explain, but I feel like a division has been removed from my days and evenings and now there is just a smooth, continual flow of time. We're reading more, talking more, cooking together, and getting more done around the house.

Sure, there are moments where I want nothing more than to throw myself on the couch with the remote but I find if I can distract myself for 15 minutes, the urge passes. Or if the urge is really bad, I pop in a movie.

Overall though, extremely pleased with the "no TV" and plan to continue it. Thanks everyone for checking in. I think the rescue squad may now safely stand down.

Dena