How to watch less tv? Why you should stop watching TV?

Many people watch TV every day, let’s think about the impact TV has on us and look at a few facts you may not be aware of.

Here are the most obvious reasons to stop watching TV:

How To Watch Less TV

Watching TV is a waste of time.

How much time do you waste watching TV? Various studies show that, on average, people watch 4 to 5 hours of television a day in a 24-hour period.

If you add to this 7-8 hours of sleep, from 24 hours in a 24-hour period that we have, I have about 12 hours for other more productive activities.

It’s obvious that you don’t do anything else when you watch TV. The time you spend watching TV is similar to when you are asleep.

If you watch programmes that are educational, beneficial and in line with your interests, it is likely that not all the time you spend watching TV is wasted.

However, for many people who watch all kinds of TV series, entertainment programs, etc., most of the time is probably wasted.

Of course, voices will rise that watching TV for a few hours relaxes and allows you to relax, but there are many more better opportunities than watching TV to relax.

There are also studies that have shown that you don’t really really relax when watching TV, because there is a lot of muscle tension in your body during this form of spending time, so your body doesn’t really relax.

Think of other interesting activities you could do instead of sitting in front of the TV.

Television puts your health at risk

Another reason to stop watching TV is that it can have a negative impact on your health.

In recent years, various studies have shown that watching TV for several hours a day can significantly increase the chances of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

We now have a very sedentary lifestyle and most people have a desk job. We aggravate this problem when we go home and sit in front of the TV.

Research shows that even the most basic movement of walking and body movement can have a positive impact on our health.

A Harvard study first linked television viewing to obesity more than 25 years ago. Since then, extensive research has confirmed the link between television viewing and obesity in children and adults in countries around the world.

There is also evidence that reducing television viewing time can help control weight, which is one of the reasons why many organisations recommend that children and adolescents limit television and multimedia time to no more than two hours per day.

Sitting in front of the TV you can eat more and often these are all kinds of unhealthy snacks.

In addition, if you do not perform any physical activity you burn less calories and this also translates into your weight and general well-being.

Television slows down brain activity

In one study, researchers looked at the habits of more than 3,200 people who were on average 25 years old at the beginning of the study.

Respondents who watched more than 3 hours of television per day on average over the next 25 years were more likely to score worse in the various cognitive tests they underwent than those who watched little TV.

Research by scientist Herbert Krugman has shown that within 30 seconds of watching television, brain waves switch from beta waves, which indicates vigilance and conscious attention, mainly to alpha waves, which indicates a lack of attention and interest.

This is a state of mind that is similar to when we sleep.

When watching TV, the centres in the brain that are responsible for critical thinking are switched off. There is also an increasing tendency to accept uncritically the arguments and words of others.

Various studies and their results suggest that engaging in physical activity, as opposed to sitting and watching TV, is important for overall brain health.

TV influences your shopping habits

One of the main reasons why television exists is to promote and sell products. Every TV show is designed to keep you in front of the TV and, through traditional advertising or product placement, make you buy them.

Television is designed to make you feel bad, so you can buy products to make you feel better.

Manipulative advertising encourages people to buy, making them think that what they see on the screen is what they need to make their lives more valuable. Advertising is trying to convince us that we have much greater needs than common sense.

Watching TV and advertising affects consumer behaviour and often leads to irrational financial decisions.

Television affects your spending habits. Multi-minute advertising blocks, shopping channels are always trying to sell you something. Even if you don’t watch TV with shopping in mind, it can still affect your spending.

We may not even realize that when we watch TV we are subconsciously programmed to buy certain brands and products. Remember that the next time you sit on the TV.

SEE ALSO: The Internet Can Kill You: How To Avoid Internet Addiction?

Television focuses your mind on negative thoughts

Almost every TV show, especially every news and news show, exposes your mind to negative thinking.

Most of the information presented focuses on tragedies, misfortunes and dramas. The bigger the disaster, the bigger the audience.

Although there are exceptions to this rule, they are very few, so you should carefully choose what you watch and what you spend your precious time on.

Unfortunately, these negative images program negative emotions in our minds (1). We see dangers in different places and decide to avoid them.

We hear about diseases that are spreading around the world and we start to be too cautious. Some people prefer to stay in their homes because they fear that something bad will happen.

Television implants a negative image of the world into our brain.

Television creates unrealistic expectations

Television isn’t real life. Of course, you can watch news or documentaries about people’s lives.

However, often the news is exaggerated and the documents are not always reliable and credible.

Television creates unrealistic expectations because of all the random scenarios and situations that never happened in real life.

The events presented in films, sitcoms or other programs are in most cases the product of the imagination of their creators.

Television disturbs our understanding of reality. It’s filled with beautiful people who do amazing things and have fun every time they perform. However, the images you see on the screen are often completely false.

For those of us who want to succeed in life and create something for ourselves, these programs can often create misconceptions about what is required to succeed in life.

Sometimes they put false boundaries in our minds to what is possible for us.

Television can change your beliefs and distort your value system

Television can implant negative feelings into our minds, as well as give us unrealistic expectations, it can also change your beliefs.

In comedies we laugh at a stupid, obese, lifeless loser, racist jokes and other people. The news is filled with stories of pain, suffering, catastrophe and death. All this affects your view of life and the way you see the world.

Television is powerful. If you don’t want your system of values and beliefs to be disturbed by what television serves, stop watching it.

Television can make you less happy in life

One study showed that people who watch more TV are less happy with what their lives look like.

Their list of dreams and materialistic desires is getting bigger and their gratitude for what they already have is diminishing. This is probably due to the unrealistic way life is presented on television.

When people watch ads, they start to feel sad, ugly, sick, sick, and of little value. Life will never be like a TV series, which can make people feel disappointed when they compare it to real life.

TV news regularly suggests that we’re not smart enough, that we’re not funny enough.

Our lives may seem completely empty compared to the perfection of the television world.

Television makes you less social

If you are someone who watches a lot of TV, your social life may suffer. Every hour you spend in front of the TV is another hour when you don’t get the most out of your life.

You can play with your family, meet friends or do something you like. Building bonds and relationships is one of the basic human needs that we all have and will never be met by your TV.

There may be a lot of people around you which you can spend your time with instead of watching TV.

People who make you feel happy, lift your spirits if necessary, provide you with help and entertainment, information and knowledge.

It’s better than sitting in front of a TV screen.

Television makes your self-control and discipline worse

Thanks to the incredible psychological tricks used by television, it is difficult to stop watching it.

We lose our self-control and we can’t turn off the TV even though we might even want to. When this happens, our self-control and discipline decrease even more, and it becomes even more difficult to fight.

Television has an impact on the level of your discipline, because in the long run watching TV is addictive.

The more often and the longer you watch TV, the less time you spend on more valuable and productive activities. In addition, if you have a TV in your home, it often becomes your main entertainment, you are not motivated to look for other ways to spend your time.

Your discipline is also weakening.

You’re spending more money

The influence of television on shopping behaviour has already been mentioned. TV commercials make us buy things that we often don’t need, so we spend more money.

Buying a TV set is a one-time expense, but using it every day for many hours consumes electricity for which you have to pay. Most people who watch TV have bought various types of TV packages from operators.

Every month there are bills for this, which you have to pay. If you give up spending your life in front of the TV, you will save money that you can spend on other things.

Count how much you have spent on television in recent years. How much time did you spend in front of the screen? And ask yourself, was it worth it?

We looked at a few reasons why you should stop watching TV, but how to actually limit the time you spend watching TV?

Here are a few steps you can take to reduce the amount of time you spend on TV:

Sell your TV.

The easiest way to stop watching TV would be to get rid of the TV set completely and terminate the contract with the TV operator. This is a rather drastic step to take.

However, if you really want to give up TV, it may be a good idea.

You can also limit the number of TV sets in your home. If you have multiple TVs, stay with one and sell the others.

SEE ALSO: 4 Best Ways To Deal With Anxiety Caused By Negative News And Headlines

Set the limit for watching TV

Specify the time limit for watching TV each day. This is a great way to limit the time you spend in front of the screen. With each day or week you can reduce this limit until you stop watching TV completely.

You can program the TV to turn off automatically after a certain period of time.

Get out of the house more often

If you’re not home, you’ll watch less TV. Try to do your best to leave the house more often. Find other more productive and valuable activities.

Be more sociable.

Cultivate your current relationships and make new friends. If you become more socially active, you will spend more time with others and less time in front of the TV.

What can you do instead of watching TV?

Here are some of the more rewarding things you can do instead of watching TV:

Exercises and physical activity

Reading books

Writing blogs, diaries, books

Playing with children and spending time with the family

Developing your passion, your hobby

Meeting friends

Cooking healthy meals

Learning and developing their competences

Animal care

Volunteering

Working on your goals

In general, instead of watching TV, you can do all the things that make you happy and enjoyable, as well as the things that make other people’s lives worthwhile.

The truth is that television is a tool that can be used for both good and bad purposes. Most arguments, however, argue in favour of stopping or at least substantially reducing the time spent in front of the TV screen.

Life should be lived, not observed. To start living your own life, instead of looking at how others live, think about the impact of television on your life.

Life can be more than just passive watching TV. It can be filled with incredibly beautiful, real experiences and invaluable lessons, and a good first step is to stop watching TV.

We get one life and it’s up to us to make the most of it. Without TV you can live better (2).

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to watch less tv. I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.