How Dumping TV Allowed Me to Quit My Job | Hacker News Reader

How Dumping TV Allowed Me to Quit My Job

savingadvice.com

87 pointspj60 comments

Excellent post! Especially relevant to this audience.

When I read "How to Get Rich" by Felix Dennis, I made a list of 10 things I had to do to affirm my commitment. "Get rid of my TV" was #1. I did it and it has made a huge difference. A few points:

- I put a radio next to my computer. It's much easier to work with radio than with TV.

- I watch a couple of shows with my mother and SO on their TVs, not mine. 2 to 3 hours per week.

- I only watch sports at a sports bar. If I'm going to spend 3 hours and $50, I think long and hard about which games are really important. I have also made lots of new friends at Steeler bars. I can't imagine watching a game alone ever again.

- Someone please let me know if Michael and Lincoln are still alive when "Prison Break" ends its run in 3 weeks. This was my last "favorite show". There will not be another.

I also watch sports at my local bar.. now I have a whole different 'genre' of friends who happen to not spend their day in front of a computer. Socially, it has been quite a learning experience!

If you lack self control with regard to TV watching I can't recommend enough how much better your life will be. If your scared, try cutting the AC power cord. Give it a week.

If your scared, try cutting the AC power cord.

Be sure to unplug it first :)

Be sure to unplug and if it's an old crt, wait for an hour or so - those tubes can carry a heck of a static charge!

It will not discharge on AC cord.

That may be the theory, but believe me, in practice it's not always true. I ended up with a reprimand on my service record when a technician working for me in the Air Force did precisely this, cutting the ac cord, with a pair of uninsulate scissors, which then went flying across the room. The reprimand was because I hadn't put measures in place to stop technicians using uninsulated scissors for technical work - fair enough.

I'm guessing that the ground wire in the cable hadn't been correctly hooked up to the ground pin in the plug, a not uncommon flaw in cables...

Great article! Recognize though that time is not fungible. For example just because you stop watching tv from 9pm to 10pm doesn't mean your going to be productive <insert task> in that same block of time after working a full day at your day job.

Based on a lot of our responses, I think a lot of us are just substituting web surfing for watching tv (self included). So how do we keep from just substituting another time sink for tv? How much time do we waste "web surfing" in the evening when we could be doing something else more generative?

Well, taking your dedicated work machine off the internet - or maybe at least blocking it on the router with a script every hour or so, forcing you to make a conscious decision about going online seems to work for lots of people.

Then again - reading tech news, for example, isn't all that bad, so how about just mapping Youtube and similar time-sinks to 127.0.0.1 in your hosts file?

> So how do we keep from just substituting another time sink for tv? How much time do we waste "web surfing" in the evening when we could be doing something else more generative?

It's not necessary. I personally just do what I want, whenever I want, and don't concern myself with "productivity". If I feel like watching TV for days, hell, I do. Other times I feel like creating something: well, I just take out my Emacs and start coding for hours. If I feel like working, I'll work and earn money, if I don't I just quit and spend money.

That's the good part of being a grown-up. You get to do what you want :)

Life is too short to waste it on meaningful things. And usually meaningful means "following what other people say" anyway :)

So people would be more productive if they worked during every waking hour? Amazing. I enjoy watching a good movie or ball game. Life isn't just about working. You have to spend some of the time you have here enjoying yourself.

Uh,

I agree with the point that you shouldn't spend all your time working instead of watching TV. But I would object that TV often only gives an illusion of pleasure and relaxation.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=television-addiction-is-...

But I would object that TV often only gives an illusion of pleasure and relaxation.

Sorry for nitpicking; This is a little confusing use of the word object. You are actually saying that "TV often only gives an illusion of pleasure and relaxation.". Using 'I would argue/say' instead of object would have been better.

+1 for the reference.

No, not at all. If you followed the first link he gave, the $1M figure comes from 11 different factors, of which "Opportunity Cost" is dead last.

For me, TV is the opiate of the masses that numbs my brain after a long day quicker than booze, god, or exercise. Replacing it with a second job is about as likely as giving up weekends and vacations.

numbs my brain quicker than exercise

Sounds like you're not running fast enough. =)

Please keep religion-bashing out of hn.

> Decide on any exempt shows: There may be few shows that you feel are educational and want to encourage yourself and your other family members to watch.

That's exactly what I have done. Family Guy is exempt, Seinfeld is exempt if it's one I haven't seen before (I'm new to the US, so I still have that occasional joy)

I only watch shows that are exempt, I do this by watching solely on an off-cable medium. Not having the advertising helps to see more shows in less time.

All movies are exempt for me, however again I usually only watch DVD's. I came from the UK where TV always shows complete episodes, not the syndicated crap, and movies aren't cut and edited to death. I believe when I first came to Canada most stations still cropped the picture in movies, I never even knew anyone did that, because on a PAL set the quality is high enough to keep the letter box format, so the switch to NTSC cemented the death of TV.

I've not gotten to exempt shows, but I have blocked entire chanels, including the MTV family. It's been great for me and my whole family. I need to block more.

Keep your TV. It'll keep you in touch with popular culture for a start. Which is handy if you want to sell things to the 'masses'.

I know it's popular on here to hate TV, but this is bs. If you actually make a conscious decision on what you want to watch, assuming you have access to quality programming, then it's extremely useful. You really can't quantify the amount you learn from movies, educational tv, comedy, music etc etc

The problem is when people go into a state when they just watch something they don't really want to watch, doesn't teach them anything, and just wastes their time. But that's not a fault of having a TV, it's just a fault of those people misusing it.

I find that "quality programming" is almost non-existent on TV which tends to create programs suitable for the lowest common denominator of possible audience. Which makes even scientific show dumb, shallow, pointless, non-educational.

Really, I don't see what you can learn from TV. Movies for an emotional response once per week - sure, but TV as anything but mindless time filler? Sorry I can't buy that.

You can randomly browse wikipedia and get exponentially more quality information than watching some dumbed down discovery.

>> "Really, I don't see what you can learn from TV."

Speechless... Really I am. Seek out, and you will find.

I don't know many documentaries (unfortunately), but have you watched the "Planet Earth" series by the BBC? I guess one day movies like that will be priceless, when the things they show don't exist anymore (hope it'll never come to that). But seriously, some scenes are just incredible, I don't know how they did it (finding certain animals doing certain things, they must have had infinite patience).

And likewise, watching selectively is even easier with some peer-to-peer networking and file sharing sites. You can see almost any show you happen to fancy at the moment - and you get to skip the commercials or pause when convenient. Also, most of the time your watching habits aren't recorded by shady companies for unspecified marketing reasons. Even better, there's absolutely no chance of accidentally ending up watching something you didn't plan to, which is the main idea behind corporate TV.

Also - as far as this individual is concerned, popular culture is overrated.

>> "popular culture is overrated."

My point is that if you want to have a business, that interacts with people, you better understand popular culture.

In that case I rest mine.

Absolutely correct. That sneering attitude toward the masses is a ticket straight to the poorhouse. I want to understand them better than the understand themselves.

Ding ding ding! You've hit on part of why I don't watch tv. Commercials.

The other reason is that the news is just plain dark.

And you don't have to watch stuff according to a schedule that someone else controls.The whole idea of broadcast TV, where everyone watches the same thing on a channel at a time, doesn't make sense except for news and live sports.

I must admit that by now there are some really good series out there. I prefer to watch them not via TV, though - DVD or bittorrent to the rescue. I guess that still counts as watching TV, though :-(

But really, some series do impress me - they have a lot more options to go deeper than a movie that is limited to 90min. Not that I can mention many examples, since I don't watch TV, I don't tend to stumble on new series. Buffy is still my favorite...

Also, a lot of documentaries are breathtaking. I keep thinking someone should build a portal for all those documentaries. But then I talked to one documentary maker and she said "it is not that easy, rights belong to TV companies and so on". I guess I shouldn't have let her dissuade me.

I'm actually getting rid of my TV when I move. It's not worth the cost, plus 90% of what I watch is on Hulu the next day anyway. I've also thought about buying a Slingbox and hooking it up to my parents cable if I really miss some shows that aren't on Hulu. There are some amazing gems of entertainment on TV but the ridiculous cost is what bothers me ($42 for basic cable, WTF comcast).

>I'm actually getting rid of my TV when I move.

I highly recommend this. I've been watching my 'exempt' shows on my laptop for over a year. I'm not quite sure if i will ever have a TV again.

"I've been watching my 'exempt' shows on my laptop for over a year"

I thought about this, but for me, this doesn't count. Even if the screen is part of a computer, it is still a "TV". Separating my dev and internet machines has made this a moot point.

This is a really good point; I hadn't considered that view. So on your internet machine, do you consider 'mindless internet surfing' watching TV?

I also keep my work and internet machines separate.

"do you consider 'mindless internet surfing' watching TV?" No.

  Activity                  Value Reasoning
  ------------------------- ----- -------------------------
  watching TV                  0  totally passive
  mindless internet surfing    1  you do some initiating
  actively working             9  usually produces benefits
  reading Hacker News         10  basic research :-)

We should be friends.

Hulu is fundamentally a different video experience than a TV, though. Rather than passively watching channels and killing time, you're actively seeking out only your 'exempt' shows. It's a lot harder to fall into the couch potato trap.

I haven't had cable since 2005, and it's never been a problem. If you can't stream it somewhere, you can always torrent it.

I rarely watch shows, but still have a bit of a movie addiction. However, my total weekly watching of video might amount to 2-3 hours, so I'm ok with it. Video games are a much harder habit to kick in the interest of productivity.

$42 for basic cable?

I have Comcast and pay -$2.09 (not a typo) for basic cable. I have internet from them (FiOS not in my town), and they give you $10 off internet if you also have a TV package. Their cheapest TV package is $7.91/month for "basic cable". Even if I never watched it, I'd buy it...

By never developing a TV habit and instead relying on the internet to provide me with the few things I find enjoyable to watch, I've managed to reach a stage when I'm surprised that people actually watch TV, given the choice. If you've never done so before, try living for a week without your usual multimedia hit, there's a fair chance you'll like that extra few hours.

On the other hand, some people watch TV because they just want to relax and not work every waking hour.

I use the computer for that rather than TV, but still, killing time is killing time.

TV doesn't make you relax, it agitates you to no end.

I tend to live overseas every other year or so, and whenever I come back to the U.S. I'm surprised by the abnormal, loud booming voice of the announcers and crass sensationalism. Why are BBC anchors so human, calm and collected, while CNNers come off as very emotionally involved, and almost nudging you to participate and mirror their reactions?

TV != news programs.

TV can most certainly be relaxing, it all depends on what you like to watch.

If Im in front of a screen I prefer to be learning, interacting, creating and or conversing with those in my inner circle.

TV lacks all the above minus learning when watching PBS and other similar channels.

I do watch free Internet TV; a few shows on Hulu & other sites!

I don't know about anybody else, but there are only one or two shows that I can handle watching - I don't think I could watch more than 2 or 3 hours a week total, let alone in one day.

Same. I might watch an hour of television combined in a week unless they're something specific I want to see. And that's rare these days.

This is probably great for him, I rarely watch TV anymore, but I still watch a lot of series on DVD and such. However, in the space of 60 minutes, I can (for example) watch 3 episodes of The Simpsons or Futurama, not the 2 I'd get on TV.

I probably still watch the equivalent of about 3 hours of TV a day, just it's compacted into 2 hours. The other hour I can read a book, and a lot of the time I leave shows running on my media server just for some background noise.

I hate radio DJ's, so quite young I picked up the habit of using TV not radio as a tool for background noise. It's probably a bad habit, but I find in residential areas (I grew up in the quiet of the country) I get highly distracted by noises outside.

It is a compelling argument that if you dropped the 3+ hours of TV a day, you could make an extra $10K on minimum wage (here in Canada it would be about $16K on minimum wage). However, this advice might work great for one person, however if everyone in the country suddenly decided to cover 30+ hours a week of extra work, it would probably further collapse the economy. There's not enough jobs to go around the people we have already, if people suddenly double their hours then lots of people would likely loose their job.

>There's not enough jobs to go around the people we have already, if people suddenly double their hours then lots of people would likely loose their job.

There is not a fixed amount of work to do. If the author of this article just watched TV instead of creating the blog network that he did, he wouldn't have put anyone out of a job.

In the immediate, yes there's a very finite number of jobs. If there was an unlimited supply of jobs, not a single person in the world would be unemployed.

Jobs are tied to the economy, until the economy grows there can't be more jobs. The system might handle a flux of 10% new workers (either from a bizarre immigration mistake or a ton of people working over time or double full-time jobs) however, resources are finite. All 300 million people in the USA can't overnight get a second job.

In certain sectors there's probably great ease in getting a second job. However, there's not 300 million minimum wage jobs going.

I agree with that point, and perhaps I was a little callous in my original (grandparent) comment. The demand for workers is often very inelastic because it requires someone to figure out new ways to add value that requires workers.

It's been since August that i dont listen TV. It's clear for me that having no TV really forces me to go out more often, think about creative ways of spending my time. I surely have more time for personal hacking projects.

I feel ambivalent.

Personally I don't watch TV at all but I do work for TV projects time to time. I started my career in a TV production (part-time CG programmer), and still get projects with some connection to TV time to time. TV industry itself supports quite a few jobs, and the industry depends on those who spend long hours watching TV.

That won't be an excuse to creating dumb content just to make people addict, but suppose all the people stop spending time on passive entertainment and spend it on "productive" activity instead, who will consume their "products"? I just wonder.

It's a little harder to get rid of your tv when it has basically been completely replaced by a laptop. I do use my laptop for productive, and so I don't think I would really want to get rid of it.

Otherwise, it sounds like great advice. I'll have to give up tv shows and movies for a few weeks to try it.

I saved a lot of time and improved my marriage by paying someone else to have sex with my wife. He is cheaper and better, and now I have even more time to send working!

Really, I'm not trying to say that giving up TV is a bad idea, just that it's easy to forget what's important in life.

I've been through several phases in regards to TV.

When I was younger, I enjoyed following a lot of shows and comparing notes with my friends. Then I got older and found I had a few favorite shows that I watched whether friends were watching them or not.

I then went through a phase where I felt TV was important for cultural intelligence -- knowing what's popular and what isn't. Sort of a cheap way to fit in with popular society without actually having to meet people.

Then I went through a History Channel/Science kick. I found you could watch all kinds of cool science-related stuff on cable almost ad-infinitum. Curious as to what the world would look like if people disappeared? Cable's got that. Want to know the role of tanks in WWI? Cable's got that too.

It was all kinds of stuff that appeared to have some science value. I could justify it by saying, "Hey, I'm learning important facts about the migratory patterns of African Swallows here."

For the last couple of years I've been in the "I control the input" stage. That is, I watch only things that I have planned to watch ahead of time and only on Tivo/DVD. I hardly ever watch "unprotected" TV -- just me and the remote.

Finally, because of this board, I've decided to cut out TV entirely except for movie-watching every other weekend or so. After a couple of months of doing this, I can attest that it is one of the better decisions I've made in my life -- assuming I can keep it up.

TV is just so much bullshit. All of those years, and all of those tens of thousands of hours, accomplished me exactly nothing. I'm not even sure they were relaxing as much as it was simply anesthetizing. TV watching for peer groups was great if you wanted to fit into peer groups that chatted about American Idol. Favorite shows became dated. Cable was just a big time suck -- like one of those bug zappers except for idle minds. Pop science is eye candy and over-generalizations. In fact, the conclusion I reached is that TV is something where you will automatically find some kind of reason for watching whether it really provides value or not. It was all just rationalization.

When I stopped watching TV I had an awful thought -- what would I do now? I was used to feeling just slightly bored and pushing a button and being entertained. I had been trained that feeling bored was somehow abnormal, instead of a natural impulse that makes people do new things.

If you spent ten thousand hours staring at a stump there would be something wrong with you. But you can take that same time and watch all the episodes of the popular shows for the last ten years and accomplish exactly the same thing: nothing. And by doing that somehow that makes you "normal"

It's been long a long time I've dropped the habbit of watching TV. Was not much of a fan even when I was a kid & then found this line in a productivity tips article.

"Avoid the tube" - I like to have statements on whatever I do :)

Haven't had a TV with capability to watch broadcast for 1,5 years now. Love the way it has freed up time for other activities (sports, reading, browsing), which I actually like more.

Clay Shirky did a fantastic talk at Web 2.0 last year on this very topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoNHIl-QLQ

Except if you're in academia, where your success is dependent on putting in all available time but you don't actually make money on it...

my generation doesn't really watch TV anymore

TV = video games, facebook/myspace/twitter, general web browsing (ex lol cats)

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