2976: Rethinking Television by Claire of WantLess on Environmental Changes for Habit Formation

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily, Episode 2976, Rethinking Television by Claire of WantLess.co.uk And I'm your narrator, Justin Malik. It's a simple podcast here, really. I read an article to you every single day of the year to help start or end your day on the right foot.

[00:00:18] Or, I guess, in the middle of the day as a little break whenever you listen is fine. And with that, let's get right to our next post and continue the conversation a little bit from yesterday. We were talking about TV then, too, as we optimized our life.

[00:00:32] Rethinking Television by Claire of WantLess.co.uk Ten weeks ago, we got the flooring in our living and dining room replaced. To prepare, we had to move all our furniture out of the room.

[00:00:50] And at the time, I joked that this was the look I'd been going for all along. We managed to squeeze the sofa into the conservatory, dragged a dismantled IKEA dining table into the kitchen, and carried a blanket box into the hallway.

[00:01:03] We unhooked our television from its connections and precariously balanced it on a kitchen countertop, hoping we wouldn't accidentally knock it and send it crashing down. The flooring was laid, and we pulled all the furniture back again. But when we reconnected the television, something wasn't right.

[00:01:21] The colors seemed all off. I meddled with the wires and promptly broke the connection for good. It has stayed that way, ever since. Laziness and apathy mean we have accidentally disconnected ourselves from live television. To be clear, we can still access streaming services,

[00:01:38] but it's been interesting to see how our habits have changed without that ready access to all those channels. In the mornings, I no longer stick on breakfast television and lose 45 minutes to the comforting pattern of the presenters.

[00:01:51] Instead, I tune into Radio 4 on my phone and get my daily briefing while I'm getting ready around the house. I've noticed that I've been reading more, a habit I'd been meaning to get back into, but had somehow not been able to make stick.

[00:02:04] There's been one TV series we've actually wanted to watch on terrestrial television, The Assassination of Johnny Versace. So every week at a time to suit us, we would watch it back on Ketchup.

[00:02:15] And there has also been one thing I really had to tune into live through my laptop, Saturday's Eurovision. When I was a teenager, I'd meet up with my two closest friends for a Eurovision party each year. Now we're dotted all over the country.

[00:02:29] We watch it while what's app-ing each other with our thoughts on the craziest songs and whether Latvia will ever top brainstorms my star from the year 2000. Answer they won't. So why cut down on television? Often when people discuss this point, the inference is clear.

[00:02:46] TV is bad for you and rots your brain. Quite frankly, I fundamentally disagree with this and not just because it's what my mum used to say to me when I was a kid. It's the same argument people made about novels in the 18th century

[00:02:59] and when there was a moral panic about how many people, especially ladies, were glued to them. In his book Everything Bad is Good for You, Steven Johnson gives a staunch defense of junk TV and mindless computer games.

[00:03:13] He argues that both are far more complex than they have ever been and often require pretty high levels of concentration. Boxset watching, he says, has led to TV shows with multiple subplots, confusing cold opens, highly technical jargon, and vast networks of characters which represent a huge departure

[00:03:32] from the simplicity of 1970s shows like Starsky and Hutch. While I think this is true, for me the argument is in danger of remaining a little elitist. In all honesty, who cares if television is simplistic and trashy? After years of pretty mediocre shows,

[00:03:49] I think this year's Eurovision really was a fantastic television event. But I can't pretend it was good for me. It was just pure entertainment mixed in with some vague idea of togetherness. I was really stressed out from work recently. And do you know what helped me calm down?

[00:04:05] binge watching the whole series of Queer Eye on Netflix. I feel not one iota of shame. And I completely understand why haggard parents get their young children down in front of Paw Patrol

[00:04:17] while they get to enjoy a quiet cup of tea in the other room for five minutes. But it's all about what is appropriate for you. The fact that TV had been so easy for me to access

[00:04:28] meant I had been more likely to switch it on than go and find a book to read. Making it just that one step harder meant I really had to decide whether it was something I wanted to do.

[00:04:39] It's why people wanting to cut down on social media often find it helpful to delete the apps from their phones and make themselves log on through their browsers. It's still there. You just have to really want it to go and get it.

[00:04:52] I'm not advocating that you all go and break your TV connectors, but if there's something you feel you're getting a little too distracted by, try to place a few hurdles in your way. You just listen to the post titled Rethinking Television by Claire of Wantless.co.uk

[00:05:13] Thank you to Claire. A bit of a continuation from yesterday's episode. I think as usual and as is the case with many of the posts I share with you, it's not all or nothing. And giving a blanket statement like TV is bad for you

[00:05:27] is just kind of lazy. I don't have any problem with anyone who wants to give it up or not have a TV in their house. Josh of The Minimalist did that as an experiment and that made TV watching a lot more intentional for him.

[00:05:40] He'd have to go to a friend's house as a sort of prepared session and that's fine. There was a lesson learned, but I think he might have gone back to having one. I'm not positive on that, but in any case what I'm trying to say is

[00:05:51] moderation like basically every life lesson we hear on this show. The middle path is usually a good one. If you find yourself on one of the edges like you watch too much, then yes, making it more difficult is definitely an experiment to try.

[00:06:04] If you want to try other random experiments besides actually getting rid of your TV or making it harder, another one you can do for 10 minutes, see what it's like to watch TV for 10 minutes without it being on. Now that's a strange sensation, very uncomfortable,

[00:06:19] especially if someone catches you doing it when they don't know why. But it might lead to some revelations. It did for me back when that was homework assigned to me in a college anthropology class. I'd be surprised if anyone actually tries that out, but in any case,

[00:06:33] it's all about intentionality. So have an intentional rest of your day and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.