In this article, we’ll look at the effects that TV has on people, and some of the scary facts that you might not be aware of.

Most importantly, we’ll go through the top 10 reasons to stop watching television.

How many hours on average do people watch TV per day?

According to Statistic Brain, the average person watches 5 hours and 11 minutes of television per day. Wow, that’s a lot of television!

So out of the 24 hours we have per day, more than 1/5th of it on average is spent in front of the TV. And if you add on top 7 or 8 hours sleeps, that doesn’t really leave too much of the day left to get things done.

What effect does television have on people?

Despite the effect it has of people not get anything productive done, television can have an effect on people’s minds, causing them to think differently. You can see more info on this when we get into the reasons to stop watching TV below.

10 Reasons to Stop Watching Television

So now you’re about to read a bunch of reasons from myself as to why you need to stop watching television. Then 90% of you after you’ve finished reading will go and sit yourself down in front of your favorite TV program.

Here are the 10 most obvious reasons to stop watching television:

1. Watching Too Much TV is Wasting Time

How much time are you wasting watching TV?

Well, the answer is above (5 hours and 11 minutes every day). Is that amount the time you’re actually wasting though?

If you’re watching things that are educational and beneficial towards your interested and goals, then that time is probably not all wasted. But, for the most of us who watch random TV series’, we may well be wasting all our time.

Think about it, what happens when you turn the TV off after 3 hours of watching some random US sitcom?

Sure, you could say you’re more relaxed because of it, but 3 hours of the stuff? Does it really relax you that much?

There’s so much more you could be doing instead of watching television. Think about all the goals you could be working towards and achieving instead of looking at a screen.

2. TV Provides Unrealistic Expectations

TV is not real life.

Sure, you may be able to watch the news, or documentaries about people’s lives. However, the likelihood is that the news is exaggerated and intimidates people for no reason, or the documentaries are actually again exaggerated and fake.

But I’ll get into that a little later on in the article.

Television provides unrealistic expectations because of all the random scenarios and situations portrayed, that would never be the case in real life. Either portrayed in movies, sitcoms or other programs.

For those of us looking to becoming successful in life and make something of ourselves, these programs can often put illusions in our minds as to what’s required to make it in life. Or, they end up putting false limits in our mind of what’s actually possible for us.

3. TV Puts Your Health At Risk

The scientific link between the amount of TV watched and obesity has been proven.

People who have a habit of sitting down and watching TV for long periods of time, are often more likely to be obese and at risk of heart diseases.

You’re also likely to eat more when you’re sitting down in front of the television. Plus, since you’re also burning less calories due to doing no physical activity, this becomes a very risky combination.

4. TV Degrades Your Discipline

Well, you’re not exactly improving your discipline whilst watching TV are you?

Watching television has an affect on your level of discipline, because it’s addictive. The more you watch television, the less likely you are to get things done.

Plus, if you have a television in your house, it’s one of the most common distractions for people. Therefore, the amount of discipline you have is reduced significantly.

5. TV Programs Negativity Into Your Mind

The news on TV in particular, programs a lot of negativity into our minds.

How much of the news we see on TV is positive?

Not a lot right?

The worst of the worst is always put on TV, and it programs negativity into our minds. We see danger in various places, and decide we won’t go there because of fear.

We hear of diseases that are spreading across the world, and we start being over cautious. Some people end up staying in their homes due to fear of things going wrong.

TV implants negativity into our brains.

6. TV Has An Influence On Your Spending Habits

TV clearly has an affect on your spending habits.

Adverts every 15 minutes, and shopping channels all over the place; needless to say it doesn’t look good.

Even if you’re not watching television with purchases in mind, which nobody ever is, it can still influence your spending.

We’re very visual people, and can easily be influence by TV without even realizing it. Just bear that in mind when you next sit down in front of the screen.

7. TV Can Make You Less Satisfied In Life

A study has actually shown that people who watch more TV tend to be less satisfied with the way their life is.

Their list of wants and desires for materialistic things become greater, and their gratitude for what they have degrades. This is most likely due to the unrealistic way life is portrayed on TV.

8. TV Causes You to Become Less Social

Funnily enough ‘it doesn’t take two to television’.

If you’re someone who’s watching a lot of TV, chances are your social life is decreasing. Being social is very beneficial for not only relaxing and imprinting positive thoughts in our minds, but we can also become wiser from being more social.

There could be so many people around you to send your time with. People who will make you happy, lift your spirits, and even provide you with help and knowledge.

It beats sitting in front of a screen.

9. TV Can Wrongly Alter Your Beliefs

Since TV can implant negativity into our minds and also present us with unrealistic expectations, it can also alter your beliefs.

Television is powerful. So if you don’t want your belief system messed with, then stop watching so much TV.

10. How Many Lamborghini Adverts Do You See On TV?

Think about it, seriously.

How many Lamborghini, or Ferrari adverts do you see on television?

You’ve probably never seen one in your life, unless you happen to be in a rich area. But here’s the point. Why don’t you see adverts for these cars on television?

You see adverts for all the other car makes on TV, so why not makes like Lamborghini? It’s simple; and you can put it down to the fact that the average person won’t be able to afford these cars, but that’s not the reason.

The reason there are no Lamborghini adverts on television is simply because the people who can afford them aren’t sitting around watching TV.

Lamborghini have to advertise their cars somehow right, but TV is not the answer. That’s not where their target market is, i.e. wealthy and successful people.

How to Stop Watching TV

We’ve taken a look at all the reasons why you should stop watching television, but how do you actually encourage yourself to do it?

Here are a few steps you can take to cut down on the amount of TV you watch:

1. Sell your television altogether

The simplest way to stop watching television would be to stop owning one altogether. However, that’s a pretty drastic measure to take. Yet, if you’re really struggling to cut down on TV time, this may well be a good idea.

Alternatively, limit the number of TV’s in your house. If you have one in the bedroom, sell that one and just keep one in your living room.

2. Try and get out of the house more

If you’re out of the house more, then you’ll be watching less television. So try to do what you can to get outside of the house.

3. Give yourself an allotted amount of time to watch television

Try and set an allotted time every day for watching TV. This is a great way to limit the time you spend in front of the screen.

4. Buy a timer for your television

You can grab timers that automatically turn your television off after they’ve been on for a specific amount of time.

This is another excellent way to stop watching television, because the timer does it for you. Once you’ve watched the limit you’ve set it on, that’s it for the day.

5. Try and be more social

Try and be more social. Make new friends, ask them to go out and do things. If you get more socially active, you’ll be spending more time with others, and not in front of your TV.

Summary

Now that we’re coming to the end of the article, let’s quickly recap the 10 reasons why you should stop watching television:

Watching too much TV is wasting time TV provides unrealistic expectations TV puts your health at risk TV degrades your discipline TV programs negativity into your mind TV has an influence on your spending habits TV can make you less satisfied in life TV causes you to become less social TV can wrongly alter your beliefs How many Lamborghini adverts do you see on TV?

How to stop watching television:

Sell your television altogether Try and get out of the house more Give yourself an allotted amount of time to watch television Buy a timer for your television Try and be more social

In Conclusion

We think that TV can definitely be relaxing at times, there’s no doubt about that. It’s healthy to watch a little now and then for the entertainment factor.

However, watching too much can be detrimental to your level of happiness, productivity and success. You don’t have to go to the extreme of selling every TV you own, just try and cut down the time spent watching. Maybe remove TV’s from bedrooms, offices, etc.

How much TV do you watch per day? Leave a comment below.