According to a recent report, the average adult American spends more than five hours watching television every single day. That equates to roughly 35 hours per week. In other words, you’re probably spending almost as much time watching TV as you are working.
What if you were able to cut back on your TV habits and instead do something productive with this time? Well, give the following hacks a try and you’ll see just how much more productive you can be on a daily basis.
1. Read a Book
Reading is something most of us enjoy, yet we never seem to get around to picking a book up off the shelf. Well, imagine how many books you could read if you spent a couple hours reading each night. You could probably go through three or four books a month. Not only is reading better for your mind, but it also provides you with valuable information and insights into different topics, which makes you a more interesting and well-rounded person.
2. Cook a Healthy Meal
TV watching and unhealthy eating go hand-in-hand. When people are camped out on the couch, they don’t have time to cook. Therefore, they rely on frozen dinners and fast food. In fact, you could argue that the entire concept of pre-packaged foods – once called TV dinners – is designed around nighttime television watching. By cutting out the TV, you can spend more time cooking healthy meals. Not only will this allow you to learn new cooking skills, but it will also lead to a healthier life. If you have a partner or children, you can enlist them to help you in the kitchen, creating a good teaching and bonding opportunity that you would have otherwise missed.
3. Get Some Exercise
Now that you’ve got healthy eating down, you can adopt an exercise regimen to lose those excess pounds and get in shape. Take a run after work, lift weights at the gym, or take a yoga class. In the same amount of time it would take you to watch an episode of Law and Order, you can finish an excellent calorie-burning workout. Not bad, eh?
4. Take an Online Course
With an extra 30-35 hours in your weekly schedule, you could sign up for an online course and learn a new skill, obtain a new certification, or potentially earn a new degree. There are thousands of online learning opportunities and your time will be much better spent in front of the computer than the TV.
5. Get a Head Start on Work
Are you stressed when you show up to work in the morning? Do you find it difficult to head home at a decent hour? Well, you can make the following day much easier by getting a head start the night before. Knock out menial tasks while at home and you’ll find that you’re able to accomplish important things when you’re in the office.
6. Get a New Hobby
Finally, why not get a new hobby? Whether it’s writing, drawing, gardening, playing guitar, flying planes, or anything in between, a few extra hours a week should be plenty of time to try something new. You might even make some new friends in the process!
What are you waiting for?
Nobody is saying that TV is evil. We all have our favorite shows and channels and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, the simple fact of the matter is that the average American adult is spending way too much time watching TV.
By reducing the amount of time you spend mindlessly watching shows and using this time to do productive things, your life can become much happier and healthier.
Featured photo credit: Tracy Thomas via unsplash.com
