February Challenge: Overcoming TV addiction

So about 27 days ago, I made a pledge to myself that I would overcome my TV/TV show addiction. In the beginning it was extremely difficult because I haven't realized how much of day's routine revolved around my addiction. But, I am proud to say that almost a month into it, and I no longer feel like I am disabled my need to 'watch something'. 

I have filled my day with so much productive work, that I lost the needed time to write about it on my blog. Don't get me wrong, I still watch TV/TV show, but no more than an hour/day. For the most part I preplanned what I am going to watch and if I spontaneously found myself in front of the TV, I made sure I get up and leave or turn off the tv after an hour. 

But, overall it was a good experience and I am very happy about the end result... Now, with less than a week to go, I am already eager to see what first-world addiction I want to overcome in the Month of March. 

Day 4: Overcoming Tv Addiction

Hello day 4.

So... until now, I fell off the wagon once, learnt to schedule in TV time, and surprisingly became healthier along the way.

On Saturday, instead of watching something online, I went to the gym, came back and tidied up my entire house. Then, I organized my weekly scheduled and fixed my portfolio incase I want to sent it out in the near future... by the time I ran out of things to do, I was happy to leave the house and hang with friends.

On Sunday though.....hmmm... the devil sitting on my shoulder convinced me to watch Bill Maher while cooking. I guess I could write this one off as an informative program rather than a time-waster. And, of course, afterwards, I joined the rest of the 111.3 Million people to watch the Super Bowl. What can I say... I guess I am a conformist.

Today, I am back on my Tv-diet. I am holding my '1hr' limit for Monday night comedy. It's been a long time since I got excited about watching TV... this overcoming TV addiction is becoming quite pleasant.

-R

Day 1: Overcoming Tv Addiction.

Welcome to Day 1.... or so I thought. 

This morning, I woke up at my regular time (6:30ish), and I was excited to start Day 1.
But... wait.. was I going to give up TV all together, or learn to use it moderately. I settled for the latter.
So I decided on 1hr/day maximum.

Challenges on Day 1: 

1) Morning Routine: I usually set my Ipad on the bathroom sink, take out my headphones and watch something on Netflix while blow-drying my hair every morning. So, while I finished drying my hair much faster, I was quite bored.

2) Work: Since my day job is predominantly behind the computer, at times I found myself going on the website where I usually watch TV shows and movies, but I quickly switched over... I mean it will be a HUGE blow to my ego if strayed on my first day.

3) After work: I didn't preplan what I wanted to watch during my 1hr/day allowance...  So when I got home I got excited and spent a full hour watching celebrity news. What a waste!!!! (I should  probably include this little detail on my day planner from now on).

Day 2... Here I come.

One more day until the start of my month-long challenge to overcome my TV/Online TV addiction.
You could come up with your own 30 Day Challenge, and let me know about your progress on my blog or via twitter @solutionaddict.

Don't undermine the power of support!

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February= OverComing TV Addiction

So, apparently the first step to recovery is acceptance. Here, I am suppose to admit to the various addiction that I think I have. Who am I kidding; I don't 'think' I'm addicted, I 'know' I am.Here it is:

I am addicted to watching TV shows online. It seems mediocre, but it is by far one of the most disabling addiction I have. First of all, it is easily accessible, always available and there is always a new show or episode that I could convince myself to watch.

My addiction to watching TV shows started during last summer when I developed an acute anxiety disorder. Watching shows became a way that I escaped my highly anxious reality. Watching shows like Californication, Weeds, and MadMen for hours upon hours, considering many of the so-called good shows had been on air for several seasons meant sleepless night and drowsy days of watching exhilarating TV shows. I eagerly played the next episode when the current one was done because I just couldn't wait to find out what happens next.

Once I finished watching the 'good' shows, I discovered my anxiety became much worse, now that I didn't know what else to watch. So, I settled for anything semi-decent with some what of a story line to keep me busy. Now almost 8 month into this, I have been late to complete my Master's thesis, apply for internship and job postings related to my field, my anxiety disorder has gradually become chronic and I find myself surfing for new episodes of anything, in order to distract myself from doing what I should be doing.

Hopefully, with the start of this blog my TV addiction will come to the end.
Everyday, until the end of the month, I am going to write about over coming one of my addictions.
It will work. I know it will.

Addict:
addict |ˈadikt|
noun
a person who is addicted to a particular substance, typically an illegal drug : a former heroin addict.

WRONG!

http://www.hcpro.com

In today's world, we are all addicts. No, we are not all addicted to substances, although unfortunately some people are. But, we are all still addicts. Phone, TV, Internet, Video Games, Movies, Shopping, Gossiping, Self Sabotage, Food and so much more.

It seems that the more we advance (and I use that term very loosely) technologically, we seem to increase our ability to become addicted to multiple numbing mechanism, as a way to escape or actually connect to another reality.

Why speak in a distance phenomenon, when I could very easily use myself as an example. Despite being relatively young (mid 20s), with a pretty impressive resume and educational background, I  easily consider myself an addict. I cannot blame any of my addictions on my childhood or upbringing- I actually grow up in a very stable household-, nor can I blame it on being bullied at school, or being fired from a job. I cannot pin point an exact occurrence that has led me to this moment, and I certainly will not hold another individual responsible for my issues.

Accepting that I have an issue did not happen overnight, rather I have only started accepting that I have a problem after realizing the extend to which my addictions control my daily activities and dictate my life.

So, now that I know I have a problem, I have decided to create a blog in order to track my progress, while I tackle one addiction at a time.