With the comforting routine of fall comes the urge to plan everything in our regrettably shorter daylight hours. We schedule time for yard work, homework, meals, activities, and bedtime. Many of us even schedule in our television time, anticipating the premier of our favourite show.
The TV habit we kicked during the summer because of good weather and bad programming slowly creeps back. As we watch the leaves fall from the comfort of our couch (during commercial breaks of course) we find ourselves contributing to the national average of more than 20 hours per week.
We spend less time engaging in social interaction and physical activity. We eat more thanks to mouth-watering marketing campaigns. Even more if we watch TV while eating thanks to the distraction from our body’s full signals. Furthermore, the exposure to media messages about family, peers, relationships, sex, violence, food, values, clothes and many other topics has changed the environment in which we live.
I encourage you all to set down your iPhones, turn off the television and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Going unplugged for affords the opportunity to evaluate the role that television and other “screens” play in our lives. It forces us to examine what we sacrifice by overconsumption (time, social interaction, health). And TV is the worst offender of all digital media. It is passive, sedentary, and non-experiential. Yes Dad, even the news.
So a week without TV is doable. I will spend the time developing habits that are more productive and rewarding. I will go for a walk with my family, declutter my home, and attend my children’s hockey game. I will bake healthy treats for my neighbors and make crafts with my kids. I will clean out my closets and connect with old friends. When the week is over, I hope to continue doing those things instead of watching TV. But if I ever need to, I know “Yellowstone” will always be there waiting for me.
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