“TV addiction turns otherwise viable people into spiritual couch potatoes just as efficiently as pot addiction does.”
- Don Croft
Nearly every household (99 percent in USA) has at least one TV and most have more. We spend hundreds of dollars per person for cable and satellite TV each year and watch the equivalent of about 70 days of television (more if you’re over 65), a truly scary thought when you consider the quality of most programming these days. Plus, there’s the fact that TV watching has been linked to higher rates of obesity and diabetes.
Tired of wasting the equivalent of two months of your life every year glued to the box? Spending more than an hour sitting in front of the television each evening?
Like kicking any habit, half the battle of TV addiction is acknowledging the problem and making the commitment to change. Assuming you have the commitment, here are some not-so-easy tips on getting the job done:
1. Give your extra TVs to charity.
Allow your home one TV in a room dedicated to nothing but reading or TV watching. Kids do not need to have their own TV in their room. Donate the rest to a school or charitable organization in your community. You’ll not only get the tax deduction and a feeling that you did good, but it will be that much harder to veg out in front of the tube!
2. Rearrange the furniture.
Arrange your living room so that the television becomes not the focal point of the room, but an afterthought that requires twisting around or rearranging the furniture to view.
3. Hide the television.
Moreover, hide it. Put it behind an armoire, hang a blanket over it, or stick it inside a cabinet. Do whatever you can to ensure it fades into the background and can’t be seen for what it is — a dangerous time sucker.
4. Make a TV-watching plan.
Sit down with the viewing guide and pick out the shows you want to watch that week. Watch only those shows, and when they’re over, turn the TV off. If the shows you watch regularly are canceled, don’t replace them with new shows. Instead, decrease the time you spend in front of the television.
5. Stop the TV surfing.
In other words, don’t just turn it on and go surfing for something worthwhile. Hours are quickly wasted, switching from one show to the next, watching all and none at the same time. Also make a decision not to use the television as background noise. Keep it turned off unless there is something specific you want to watch. If you are that kind of person who likes background noise, turn on the radio.
6. Throw out the remote control.
It’s impressive how much less television you’ll watch if you have to get up every time you want to change channels or adjust the volume. Plus, it eliminates all those hours you spend channel surfing.
7. New rule: You can’t watch if the sun is shining.
Recognize that time spent watching TV is not spent actively and you do not do other things that are important or enjoyable. Go for a walk, ride a bike, or get some other kind of healthy physical activity for at least an hour before you can turn on the tube. This rule also works great for your kids or grand-kids.
8. Another rule: You must read 30 pages.
…of a book or magazine before you can turn on the TV. Depending on how fast you read, you may never watch telly again!
9. Develop a fast-moving news routine.
Most news shows are scheduled down to the minute. So research the handful of shows you watch and figure out when they run the features you are most interested in. Add it all together, and you have a total national news briefing in about fifteen minutes. Sounds like the perfect evening television routine. Watch it when you get home, and then turn off the television for the rest of the night.
10. Say no to Titanic for the 15th time.
Often we can be strangely drawn into watching things we’ve seen many times before. There’s something comforting in the repetition. Well, resist it. Watching the same Dirty Dancing movie or Star Wars episode again and again is unhealthy for your body and your brain.
11. Change your TV-viewing chairs.
Make them somewhat hard and upright — chairs you don’t want to lounge in for hours. Move your most comfy chairs to the living room, and use them for listening to music and reading.
12. Create a list of one-hour evening projects.
Get productive. Make a list of short evening projects. List anything from cleaning a particularly messy cupboard, organizing recipes, touching up the paint on your bedroom walls, sharpening kitchen knives to sorting through your sewing materials. Then create an old-fashioned job jar, and try to do one each evening.
13. Switch to games.
With your spouse and/or kids, relearn the fun of Scrabble, backgammon, or even chess. Get out the playing cards and have a hearts or gin rummy battle. Play Ping-Pong, pool, or darts in the basement. Go outside and practice your golf swing with practice balls. All of these are more fun, healthy, and life-affirming than sitting in front of the television.
14. Get outdoors every night.
Make it a point to leave your home or apartment at least once after dinner, if only for a short walk around the block. Too many individuals consider their day pretty much done once they’ve eaten dinner, when in fact, evening can be a wonderful time for getting things done and having fun.
It was TV Critic Michael Arlen who said that television connects viewers to nothing except the assumption of being connected to something. Reconnect yourself to the world by disconnecting the set!
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译文:
根除恶性：怎样改掉看电视的习惯
“就像毒瘾一样，电视瘾把独立的个人变成了精神上的沙发土豆。”————Don Croft
几乎每家每户（在美国99%）都有至少1台电视机，大多数的家庭都有几台。每年，我们每个人花在缆绳和卫星电视上的钱达到了数百美元。我们一年大约有70天的时间在看电视（如果你超过60岁，看得就更多）。当你考虑到当今大多数电视节目的质量时，一种发自内心的恐惧感油然而生。再加上，看电视与肥胖症和糖尿病的高发率有关。
每年几乎有2个月的时间泡在那个盒子上，每晚花一个多小时坐在电视机前，你不感到厌烦吗？
就像戒掉其他习惯一样，一半以上的反电视瘾大战都承认这一问题，并承诺要改变这一状况。假如你做了这一承诺，这里有几条能让其实现却又不易做到的建议:
1. 把你多余的电视捐掉。
一间房里放一台电视，在那间房里只读书或看电视。没必要让孩子的房间里有他们自己的电视。把剩下的电视捐给社区的学校或是慈善机构。你将不仅可以减税，得到做了善事的快感，而且让你很难坐在电视机前“享福”。
2. 重新摆放家具。
布置你的卧室别让电视成为房间的焦点，但是事后通常又会后悔或者有要重新布置一番。
3. 把电视藏起来
此外，把电视藏起来。把它放在大衣橱的后面，或是在墙上挂块毯子把它盖住，做一切你所能做的事让它和背景融为一体，让人不能看出那是什么——-一个危险的时间吸盘。
4. 制定看电视计划
坐下来看看节目预告，挑出你这周想要看的节目，只看那些节目，这些节目一结束，就关掉电视，如果你经常看的节目停播了，就不要看其它节目来代替它，相反，这会减少你看电视的时间。
5. 不要电视冲浪
换句话说，不要来回转换电视频道以寻找有趣的节目，时间很容易就浪费掉了，不停的换台浏览了所有的节目但却什么也没看成。也不要用电视的声音当作背景声音，除非你有什么特别的节目要看，把电视关掉。如果你是喜欢有背景声音的那一类人，请打开收音机。
6. 扔掉遥控器。
如果你每次都要起身去调台或是音量，你就会发现你看电视的时间少得惊人。另外，这也省去了你调台的时间。
7. 新规则：太阳还在电视就不开。
你必须认识到，你没有做其他重要的或有趣的事。在你开电视之前，至少花一个小时来做些有益于健康的体育运动，像散散步，骑骑自行车，这条规则在你的孩子或孙子身上也会产生良好的效果。
8. 另一条规则：你必须读30页的书。
在你读完30页的书或杂志之后，你才可以开电视，这就看你读书的速度如何了，也许你再也看不了电视了。
9. 养成一个浏览新闻的习惯。
许多新闻都压减至几分钟。因此，查查你所看的少数几个节目，在它们中找出你所感兴趣的节目，把它们集中在一起，这样，你就可以拥有一个大约15分钟国际新闻简讯了，这听起来像是一个完美的夜间看电视的习惯，回家后看看它，然后把电视关掉。
10. 和第15遍泰坦尼克号说再见。
经常，我们会莫名其妙地看那些我们已经看过很多遍的节目，在重复看的过程中，也许会得到一种安慰，克制自己，一次又一次地看电影和星球大战对你的身体和大脑都有害。
11. 换掉你看电视的座椅
换张硬座直立背椅————这样你就不会想久坐在那里久坐几个小时了，把你那张舒服的椅子放到卧室，做在上面听音乐或看书。
12. 制定一个晚间一小时节目清单。
这一建议挺有效的，制定一个简短的晚间节目清单。在上面写上所有的事情，想清理很脏乱的橱柜，整理食谱，润色一下卧室墙上的画，磨刀，整理缝纫工具，然后做个老式的罐，每晚都做一件事。
13. 转向游戏。
和你的爱人或孩子，再次感受拼图游戏，十五子起，或者甚至是象棋带来的乐趣，打打牌，打扑克牌或拉米纸牌。在地下室打乒乓球，落袋台球或飞镖，打打户外高尔夫球，这些事比坐在电视机前更有趣，更有益健康，更有活力。
14. 每晚都出门。
晚饭之后，如果只是在街区周围散步，要保证至少出门一次。很多认为吃完晚饭后，一天的事也就差不多做完了，事实上，晚上是做事享乐的精彩时段。
电视评论家Michael Arlen说电视只是把观众和那些假设的东西连在一起。让自己和再次和世界接轨，就远离电视。
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