Being mindful about Television

I've just completed a bit of a social experiment. Being disappointed with the amount of mindless television I manage to absorb within a week, I decided for one week only, I would only watch my favourite shows and actually turn off the television when they weren't on. Usually I would have the TV on as 'background noise' (or so I seem to justify it to myself).

Below are some things I noticed on my week of mindful TV watching.

Day 1
I feel surprisingly productive today. I went to bed at 10ish last night and woke at 6am for a morning walk. I then came home and ate a proper breakfast and read some more of my current book. I went to work and then came home (the long way, another nice walk) and started preparing dinner while listening to music. Then I read my book and watched 'brothers and sisters' (don't judge me). So far so good, I don't feel like I missed out on anything and I feel proud to have done so much with my Monday, a day I typically HATE!

Day 3
I've missed exercise in the mornings two days in a row (not really a morning person it turns out). But that's ok because I haven't had a mindless TV agenda at night time so I have substituted it for night time exercise and that's worked well. I nearly slipped last night and almost watched the fat family show on after Packed to the Rafters (don't judge me... again). But quickly remembered and turned it off. I've also noticed I'm paying a lot more attention to music this week.

Day 5
Turns out it's easy to substitute TV with computer and internet. There is so many interesting things to read about and learn on the net. Still though, probably as pointless as TV. I think next weeks challenge might be to add computer in the mix with TV.

Conclusion:
1. I didn't miss the other shows that I used to sit through at all.
2. I didn't feel ripped off, because I still got to see the shows that I love.
3. When I did watch TV, it felt more interesting than normal (I didn't even play with my iPhone when watching, uni-tasking!).
4. I managed to exercise everyday because I wasn't stupidly tired for watching TV to ridiculous hours to view shows I don't care about.
5. I managed to spend time reading, writing and doing other things that I genuinely enjoy doing.

Turns out being mindful about TV could be very worthwhile.