Let’s make an effort to cut back on screen time!

[Metalhead]

I am finding that too much time on forums is keeping me from doing what I need to do to improve my own life.

Same with too much time in front of my television.

Our brains deserve better than what most of us have tended to feed them.

Our bodies deserve more physical activity than what many of us have been giving them.

Life was not meant to be spent mostly in front of screens.

Let us make a group effort to cut back on screen time and build ourselves up from there. Let us abandon the nation of Procasti.

 

[VictorR]

Something I find helpful is to start the day with exercise. When you get your 10000 steps done in the morning already, it can be uplifting that you have done something, and then you don't have to worry about it

 

[NB79]

i agree, more easier said than done though.

 

[Rodafina]

But it’s so lonely off-line. All I do is speak gibberish to myself, and walk around afraid of everyone. This is my happy place. Point taken though, you are not wrong about more activity and fewer screens.

Let us abandon the nation of Procasti.

What does this mean?

 

[Metalhead]

But it’s so lonely off-line. All I do is speak gibberish to myself, and walk around afraid of everyone. This is my happy place. Point taken though, you are not wrong about more activity and fewer screens.


What does this mean?

Procrasti-nation.

 

[Rodafina]

Procrasti-nation.

I probably should’ve tried a little harder to figure that one out!

 

[MyLifeAsAnAspie]

Good idea. I'll do something else as soon as I check the weather, read the news and check a few more forums .

 

[Aspychata]

I procrastinated on my roof, and the second mini hurricane blew it back to the way it was saving a little money. It was in Dec. - a Xmas hurricane.

I am with @Rodafina , l need a sense of continuity, that life is moving forward. Online access and connection seems to keep my hyperactive thinking in a happy place, because l pretend that everybody else is in it together, that we all bounce off of each other, that even isolated, l am still connecting.

 

[Rodafina]

I procrastinated on my roof, and the second mini hurricane blew it back to the way it was saving a little money. It was in Dec. - a Xmas hurricane.

Ol’ Mother Nature decided she owed you one.

 

[Outdated]

Interacting with other people on forums, and even playing video games, requires attention and thought. It provides stimulation.

Just watching TV is my definition of the slow sort of brain death that leads to dementia, this explains a lot about my parent's generation.

 

[Luca]

Cutting back on time talking to people online is way easier said than done for me, since I have a limited support network irl (my friends and family are very loving but they do not understand the topics we discuss on here, and I realistically shouldn't expect them to, since they haven't experienced them.)

Ironically, I trust people on here more than I do in real life and I am more okay with being vulnerable on here, and this is the only place I really feel like I belong.

I do try to limit time spent on the computer to early morning and nighttime though. Late morning, midday and early evening are usually work hours for me and I try to spend those hours being productive, whether it's working, exercising, training my dogs, running errands, reading, making artwork, cooking, or doing chores.
I work in shifts throughout the day (dog daycare, teaching training classes on certain days, individual training sessions, and group walks, and occasionally grooming/bathing dogs) and I am often busy in between as well.
I have had more down time lately, as I'm taking a break from competitions and cutting back on work hours for another few weeks since the holidays were overwhelming.

 

[Metalhead]

Well, I think perhaps we could do something as a community that would bring us together while giving us less screen time in the process. How about a book discussion club for all of us? That would be something I would be glad to be a part of.

 

[Misery]

But it’s so lonely off-line. All I do is speak gibberish to myself, and walk around afraid of everyone.

Yeah, pretty much.

This is about the most social interaction I get, outside of immediate family. There really isnt anyone else IRL and I doubt there ever will be.

Besides, the big problem for me is that while I have a variety of other activities I can do, my chronic pain can cancel all of them at any time. There's nothing to do but the PC when that's happening.

Well, I think perhaps we could do something as a community that would bring us together while giving us less screen time in the process. How about a book discussion club for all of us? That would be something I would be glad to be a part of.

I'd join but I dont read nearly as many books these days as I used to.

The Kindle is irritating and certain family members complain/whine/moan if I buy any actual books, because they take up space in the monstrous cavern that is this house.

 

[Outdated]

The Kindle is irritating and certain family members complain/whine/moan if I buy any actual books, because they take up space in the monstrous cavern that is this house.

I had the same trouble with too many books. Window sills became book shelves until the windows were completely obscured. Now my entire collection is digital but I could never read on a device like a Kindle. I sit back in my nice comfy recliner and read on the big screen.

 

[Slime_Punk]

I'm personally trying to increase my screen time. Where else am I going to do all of my creative projects?

 

[Sherlock77]

I go for walks quite often on weekends, attend lots of different events (small concerts, poetry readings, etc...), member of two social clubs

And my work keeps me away from the computer for eight hours a day from Monday to Friday, I often go out a couple nights a week

All of this isn't as frantic as it sounds like, at least to me

 

[Metalhead]

Interacting with other people on forums, and even playing video games, requires attention and thought. It provides stimulation.

Just watching TV is my definition of the slow sort of brain death that leads to dementia, this explains a lot about my parent's generation.

I think a lot of it depends on what one is watching.

I can name many movies that are extremely intellectually stimulating.

Just like I can name many movies and TV shows that demand one turns the brain off to possibly enjoy.

 

[Sherlock77]

I think a lot of it depends on what one is watching.

I can name many movies that are extremely intellectually stimulating.

Just like I can name many movies and TV shows that demand one turns the brain off to possibly enjoy.

I'll agree

I think most TV is mind numbing, there is a place for that sometimes

There is some programming that does educate and that makes the mind think, and that's what I try to watch the most

 

[Metalhead]

I'll agree

I think most TV is mind numbing, there is a place for that sometimes

There is some programming that does educate and that makes the mind think, and that's what I try to watch the most

We could either watch tv series that teaches us advanced chemistry equations, or we can read tabloid novels instead.

 

[Misery]

I think a lot of it depends on what one is watching.

I can name many movies that are extremely intellectually stimulating.

Just like I can name many movies and TV shows that demand one turns the brain off to possibly enjoy.

Honestly I think part of the problem is a couple of things, for those of us that tend to not get much out of TV and movies.

Firstly, too many things that are... braindead. Reality shows, for instance. Or things that are, how do I say... "mass produced for max profit?" Marvel movies, for instance, with their ultra-predictable storylines and extreme focus on spectacle (while not even always actually staying true to the source material, no less). That doesnt mean there's nothing good, but...

It's kinda like how AAA VS indie gaming is to me: The AAAs side of things is often busted and predatory, with genuinely good stuff being the very rare exception to the rule, but you hear about the problematic stuff the most because they come screaming at you and get in your face. The indie side isnt infected by corporate, but that also means they are harder to get at. For someone who is definitely tired of the AAA side, but doesnt know where to go for the indie stuff (or doesnt even know that stuff exists!), well... honestly that's kinda how TV and movies are for me. The derpy stuff is in my face. I have no idea if anything good is behind them because I cant see past those. I wouldnt even know what to look for anymore.

Also the extreme amount of ads and such REALLY doesnt help, nor does the chopping up of... everything. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it used to be that you just paid for cable and you got, well, cable. Lots of channels, one payment monthly. Now every stupid corporation wants you to pay them, and you only get their stuff for that payment, so if you want other stuff, well, better go sign up for 5 more things. Heck, I recently wanted to watch Columbo, right, as Youtube randomly threw clips of it at me and it looked interesting. First time I'd taken an interest in any sort of show in years. But that meant signing up for some bloody stupid subscription JUST for that. The mostly unused subscription to Hulu didnt have that (just as it doesnt have LOTS of things, since it's all so divided). I ended up just roaming the internet until I found a free (albeit wobbly) download of one episode, and that was nice, but the process of doing that more is beyond my patience, so that's the only episode I've seen.

Though it's the ads that bug me the most, personally. My family all watch a lot of TV (both shows and movies), and something I often ask them is "how in the world can you watch this? It's more ad than it is show". Often they arent even truly paying attention to what they're watching, it's so full of ads that their phones become more interesting. At least on Youtube I can block all that nonsense... I've got like 4 separate layers of adblockers running, nothing gets through... but I cant stop things that arent on my PC here, so I never venture outside of it.

That's just how I see it, anyway, others may have different views on it. Overall it's why I switched over to mostly watching Youtube... I used to watch TV and movies, once upon a time, but that was a long time ago. And even then, a lot of what I did watch was well before my time.