“When a habit interferes with your ability to grow, to learn new things, to lead an active life, then it constitutes a kind of dependence that is serious enough to be taken seriously.” ~ television researchers Robert Kubey & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Some of you might still be resistant to the idea that you are addicted to watching television. Some of you would come right up to me and say “I can quit watching whenever I want.”

Fair enough … If that is the case, let your body walk that talk. Unplug your television and keep it unplugged for the next month. If you can do so successfully and suffer only minor symptoms of withdrawal (anxiety, listlessness, depression, antsy-ness, etc), then I will concede that you aren’t addicted — I will even tell you to plug that TV right back in and go on wasting as many of the few remaining minutes of your life as you wish.

“No one wants to admit we’re addicted. That’s just not possible. No one’s addicted to television. We just need more of it, more channels, a larger screen, more volume. We can’t bear to be without it, but no, nobody’s addicted. We could turn it off anytime we wanted.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk

For the rest of us (I too, am a recovering TV addict), there are several tips that can prove helpful to removing TV from your life.

First off, if you are living in a family with children who are used to watching TV, going “cold turkey” right off the bat can prove to be too stressful. If this is the case, there are several tips you can use to effectively “wean” your family from this devastating addiction.

TIP #01: OWN only ONE TV … Remove all TV’s from your house but the one in your family room. And be sure to destroy the others. After reading the previous post, you now know that you are doing no one a favor by giving them a TV as a gift. You might as well be giving them a jar of toxic waste. It doesn’t matter how you destroy them, of course, just be sure to do so. This can actually be a lot of fun, and you can even find creative ways to let your children be actively involved in their own “emancipation” by letting them participate in the destruction of those superfluous sets. Blow them up, shoot them, take an axe or hammer to them – it doesn’t really matter. You wouldn’t set a deadly virus free on to harm your community, so make sure you don’t do the same with your extra TV’s.

TIP #02: MAKE WATCHING TV LESS COMFORTABLE … Replace those cozy TV-loungers and “sink-into-forever” sofas with furniture that is hard and that forces you & other TV viewers to sit upright. It is also helpful to arrange that furniture in such a way that the TV is NOT the focal point of the room. Finally, discard your remote control. This choice alone will save hours of zombie-like “channel-surfing”. In addition, the annoyance your children will feel every time they have to get up to change the channel or adjust the volume will limit viewing time all by itself.

TIP #03: LIMIT YOUR VIEWING … Only turn on your TV purposefully to watch a particular show and then turn it off immediately after doing so. Plan your viewing week ahead of time with your kids, so they won’t be disappointed when watching an additional show is not allowed. And when you do sit down to watch that show, set an alarm clock in another room to ring when that show is over. This will encourage you to leave the room when that program is over, making it ar more likely that you will then turn off the TV at that point.

TIP #04: NO EATING & WATCHING … Do not EVER watch TV while eating a meal.

TIP #05: NO WATCHING WHILE THE SUN IS SHINING … This one is pretty simple – if there is still light in the sky, then it is time to go for a walk, or play outside, or go to the park, or go for a bike ride, or even read a book under a tree.

TIP #06: KEEP the TV OUT-OF-SIGHT … Essentially, it is very helpful to hide your TV when it is not in use. Stick it in a cabinet whose doors can close and obscure it from view. Throw a colorful blanket over it. Hang a picture in front of it … It doesn’t really matter how you do it, just keep it out of sigh until you want to watch it.

TIP #07: REPLACE WATCHING WITH READING … Make a new family rule that EVERYONE (not just the children) is required to read 30 pages of a quality book or magazine before the TV can be turned on and watched. If you give your kids good enough books, they may eventually stop watching TV on their own.

TIP #08: DO OTHER THINGS TOGETHER … Make first one night a week a “TV free” night – then two, then three and then four. On these nights, play board games with your kids … or cards … or ping pong … or go for a walk … or do charity work in your community … or clean a cupboard … or touch-up the paint on a bedroom wall … or look at old photos … or tend to your house-plants … or build a “hideaway” with your furniture cushions. Essentially, ANYTHING is better than watching TV, so just do anything but watch TV.

TIP #09: GO FOR A WALK AFTER DINNER … No matter how busy your family’s schedules are, make it a point to regularly eat dinner together, and then go for a short walk outside together afterwards. Even if you live alone, this is a wonderful time to reflect on your life and feel closer to your neighbors, your environment and/or yourself.

Remember, addicts of any sort should not be forced to choose between their addiction and its healthy replacement, and TV addicts are no different. Especially for children, such a choice is painfully difficult and often inspires rebellion. Just as no heroin is available when addictions experts offer their subjects methadone, so too should your television magically disappear (or better yet, be disabled) in anticipation of any of the above-mentioned family activities. It can then magically reappear (or be magically re-enabled) when no such replacement activities are scheduled. If you choose to engage this option, remember to move your TV (or disable it) when your children are not present. Nothing need be said about its absence unless the children notice and ask, when a brief “We don’t need it right now, so I put it away” will suffice.

If you are single or living in a partnership without children, then the only real solution to your television addiction is to DESTROY YOUR TELEVISION … period (see pic).

Gradually limiting your watching, moving your TV to a secluded spot in your home, &/or vowing to only watch certain types of programs at certain times will still see you wasting many priceless hours of your precious life.

Remember, your television is NOT your safe haven;
Your television is your prison …

… and it is time for you to SET YOURSELF FREE!

“Breaking the television addiction requires making a courageous choice … Watching TV fills the mind with the images and the beliefs and the agendas of others. Not watching TV fills the mind with freedom. ” ~ inspired by an unknown