How to stop binge watching TV shows and start living

Photo by Pablo Garcia Zaldan from Ansplash Photo by Pablo Garcia Zaldan from Anspeche

This is a translation of an article by Nicholas Goeka , thanks to which I stopped watching TV shows and began to develop curiosity. True, it took me more than two years to do this.

The article was carefully transferred from the blog of the running editor . By the way, you can follow the announcements of new articles in my telegram channel . Subscribe to not miss anything!

Click Continue Watching your life, not Next Episode in Netflix


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We all know how this story will end. If you understand that her ending will be sad, then this article is for you.

The purpose of any video is to inform, teach, entertain or inspire. But the meaning is lost if we don’t take anything out of the video, don’t remember, don’t use useful tips, don’t appreciate the joke and start acting inspired.

And all this is the consequences of drunken watching TV shows on Netflix or videos on YouTube. At first glance, this seems like a simple problem with procrastination, but the root of evil is much deeper. Yes, we are trying to overcome boredom through video. But let's see why we really want this so much?

Today we will identify the reasons that have been with us since childhood. Then you can use your knowledge to limit your video consumption so that a conscious goal appears in the process.

So on the way.

We were all born innocent ...


I watched my first film, The Lion King , in 1994. I was three years old. Although I saw moving pictures before, as in most families, my parents strictly limited me not only from screens, but from everything electric. That was right, because our brains, especially children’s, have no chance against the power of video.

Video equally affects the vision, hearing and sensations of space, it also launches our motion detectors and awakens emotions. Video triggers activity in the entire right hemisphere of the brain . The creators of TV knew about this from the very beginning. As Malcolm Gladwell showed in Boiling Point , the creators of Sesame Street”Used a tool called“ Distractor ”to plot children's attention.

“For each episode, we had information about every seven and a half seconds, that is, approximately 400 reference points. If we connected all these points with one red line, it would look like an exchange rate with Wall Street. It could suddenly fall or gradually decline, and we stopped to figure out what was the matter. Sometimes the graph of interest came close to the upper border of the table, we noted segments that really captured the attention of children. ”

It was in the 60s. Imagine what attention management opportunities video producers now have. Although the goal of Sesame Street was very noble - to teach children to read, write and count   - even then, for the survival of the show, it was critically important to understand neuropsychology. A month and a half before the premiere of the show, the creators realized that the children do not like it when imaginary and real elements are adjacent to the frame. Psychologists believed that mixing dolls and living people is not possible: this will upset the children, but they are not interested in looking at some adults, so the show's distributors ignored this advice.

“We decided to write a letter to specialists in the field of developmental psychology that we are aware of the danger of mixing fantasies and reality. But we will do it anyway. Otherwise, we kirdyk. "

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People and dolls do not mix? Now it's the other way around

Hacking our brains was a major challenge for the creators of video content. Their survival depended on him.

This was an internal system defect. Like dope in the Tour de France : either you do not accept it, or you are trying to expose it with all your might. Were the creators of Sesame Street guided by good intentions, exploiting those parts of our brain that are easy to fool? Of course! But, nevertheless, it was exploitation.

As a result, all our innocence went down the drain.

... But life made its own adjustments


Limited time watching TV seemed "the most terrible" on the way to growing up. But, honestly, I did not worry much about this. That's because most of the time, nothing interesting was going on TV. We were lucky that in our time there was a concept to catch the air, and now with every minute the Pandora's Box is opening more and more. James Bridge describes the YouTube phenomenon as follows :

“Content for children is one of the possible forms of making money for 3D animators. At an early age, our aesthetic standards are lower. So independent production can make a profit at the expense of its size. It uses existing and easily accessible content [...] and can endlessly and senselessly repeat and process the same thing, because the site’s algorithms do not care about quality, just like our children do. ”

Although we were protected from poor content thanks to gatekeepers such as TV channels and movie studios, even we were instilled with the habit of watching TV. I remember the first shows that I got hooked on. It was mainly anime: Pokémon, King of Games, and Digimon. I often had to run from the bus stop in time to get to the beginning.

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This is where my habit of watching TV began. And where did your start?

Using Neil Ell’s model from The Hook , it’s easy to see why we became addicted to television in our teens.

  1. We were driven by a strong curiosity, and the requirements were low, so even the simplest stories acted as instantaneous triggers .
  2. The only necessary action was to press the remote control button, which was extremely easy when our parents left us alone at home.
  3. The reward was the satisfied curiosity that brought the sea of ​​dopamine.
  4. As an “ investment ” was the time spent with your favorite characters, which caused even more curiosity for the next episode, which in turn closed the circle of addiction.

It seems that it is now clear that many have independently developed the habit of watching TV. Some of us were able to stop, even though the constant consumption of TV has its advantages.

Good


In addition to educational value, not only for children, watching TV can relieve stress . This is a kind of refuge in which we can hide and return with calm but tired eyes.

Studies show that spending time in a “fictional and fictional world” is a possible short-term substitute for social activities:

“Analyzing the possibility of replacing the rest, we found that tired people are looking for social surrogates, which in turn help them regain self-control. [Results] show that after exhausting exercises of self-discipline, people are happy to direct their attention to familiar fictional worlds (for example, in their favorite series). An additional analysis shows that, by their social nature, these familiar fictional worlds help rest. ”

If you or your friends watch the same series, then you can discuss it when you leave the surrogate world and go offline. Your favorite character can inspire you to an important but exciting decision in real life.

Going to see Tor 3: Ragnarok on Friday evening after completing my last article in this series was a good reward. I laughed, plunged into another world and was endlessly inspired.

But in March 2008, everything was not so rosy.

Bad


My earliest and most memorable episode of drinking was when I interned with a friend in England. Our host family had a Sky account , so every evening for ten days we organized a marathon: a four-hour mixture of the Simpsons, Griffins and Futurama. We laughed a lot, but we felt tired and confused.

When did you first go into serial binge? Try to find this moment in memory. When were you still a teenager? There is a growing phase through which we all go through, which is a great opportunity for drunken watching TV shows. It is called a teenage riot .

According to psychologist Karl Picard:
“Rioting can lead young people to protest against their own interests - denying childhood inclinations, activity and attitudes, sometimes supporting self-esteem. [...] The riot leads to the fact that young people rely on self-determination and personal opinion, doing something that contradicts the desires of other people. "

Teenagers are rebelling, somewhere between 9 and 23 years old. In this phase of life, we deny almost everything , and often do nothing for a long time. Perceiving that the whole world is against us and nothing can change in it, what are we turning to? Correctly! To fictional worlds.

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When Netflix strikes back

This is where the dangerous magic of Netflix and YouTube, which affect our brains, can work. And, old man, they enjoy it to the fullest.

  1. Netflix methodically A / B tests every screen, every picture and every word, to the smallest detail .
  2. It specifically tracks which episode pulled you into the series.
  3. The company has recently played with a feature that enhances engagement in serial drinking bouts , showing how far you have advanced in the show.
  4. Auto play has become a standard feature here and on YouTube.

As a result , 92% of millennials have an account on Netflix or they use someone else and do it for 1.5 hours every day . Teenagers should go to a rehabilitation center due to unconditional psychological manipulation.

It also means that when they grow up, they will not be able to stop.

Evil


If in adolescence excessive consumption of media as a result of “yes, and nothing more to do” is quite normal. That for adults, this behavior seems unacceptable. When work takes up most of the time, we have many more necessary activities. Of course in theory.

But somehow the habit persists. As Samuel Johnson said: “The chains of habits are too weak for us to feel, but too strong for us to not let go . ”

In his research , Emil Steiner identified six reasons for drunkenly watching TV shows:

  1. An improving positive experience from a deeper immersion in history.
  2. The feeling of completeness , the desire to finish all the work begun, which occurs under the influence of the Zeigarnik effect .
  3. Communicating with culture so that friends do not make you a recluse.
  4. Convenience , because it’s easy to return to the place where you left off.
  5. The desire to catch up with the missed , before the release of the new season.
  6. Rest and nostalgia , an easy break and recognition of familiar things.

Although all these factors strengthen the habit of serial drinking bouts, the strongest of them is the last. It is he who plants you in the same way as we examined earlier.

We believe that we “need” a long YouTube session or “Game of Thrones” marathon to move away from a stressful day.

Often everything happens exactly the opposite. A hangover after serial binge is real, a study by the University of Toledo confirms this:

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This is what rest looks like now.

We must very carefully separate the consequences from the causes, but often a big irritability and less verbal ability are a side effect . The University of Texas found more connections with depression, loneliness, inability to self-regulation and overweight. Moreover, each subsequent serial binge is more and more likely . We are drawn into this whirlpool.

“TV is my way of recharging” is just a facade. A cheap screen that separates us from an unpleasant encounter with a big problem. We have lost our natural curiosity and cannot change anything.

We are not bored. We miss


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The truth is that at the moment we sat down on the sofa and started to look, we agreed that none of the things that we had planned before would never happen. We do not need to "recharge". We need to escape from the fact that we have become someone who surrenders before the start of the battle.

Drunken watching TV shows became the word of the year in 2015. It is such a widespread drug that it is now more tolerated in society than smoking. The study calls drunken watching TV shows "the new norm ." Netflix, laughing, brings a black mirror to our face:

“76% of TV streamers call watching several episodes of an excellent series a cozy haven in their busy lives.”

The problem is further complicated by the fact that drunken watching TV shows is not something bad in nature. It has its advantages, including those that we have already talked about. It has become an uncontrollable monster for us because of the role that television viewing has played in shifting the identity through which we go. We believe that we deserve more in life. But the days of our adventures are long gone. So we need to reduce our ardor a bit and watch the adventures of other people from the couch.

The problem is not that Netflix is ​​addictive. And the fact that our life does not cause it.

As long as we live with this sensation, we choose to force ourselves to quench our curiosity with a second-rate product, one episode after another. If we do not start looking for other ways to saturate, then our life will never be more than 4, 9 or 42 inches of the screen on which we watch it.

What we need is to face the enemy face to face.

Design an environment to stop being a victim


In much the same way as a Facebook check or forced listening to music , excessive consumption of video is a symptom of an inability to accept our imperfection.

“You need to create the ability to be yourself without doing anything else. The ability to just sit ... like this ... means to be human, ” Louis X. Kay .

We need to see our own boredom, but this requires creating space for boredom. Here are two tools that can help. The first for Netflix, the second for YouTube.

1. Stay Focus


“ Stay Focus ” is an extension for Chrome that limits video consumption: it limits the number of minutes on specific sites throughout the day .

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Only two series maximum. Done.

After you install it , you can set the maximum amount of time to watch, for example, 2 episodes of the series. Then, in the "Blocked sites", type "netflix.com" and click "Add."

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Now after 45 minutes of being on the site, the extension will block access until the end of the day. "Active time" by default is all day long, "Active days" allow you to make exceptions, for example, block Slack on Sunday. The “nuclear option” looks really interesting.

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It allows you to set up a “complete shutdown” when you reach the maximum allowed time. It cannot be undone except through the computer control system.

This is exactly what you need. Start to get bored! Here are some tips to help you go even further.

  1. If you use Netflix on your iPad, phone or elsewhere, use Freedom . Better remove the application from the devices.
  2. If you have a satellite, cable or other formats of “normal” television, you can hide the remote control, or give it to a friend so that he can keep it for a week.
  3. Log out of your Netflix account everywhere. This nonsense hurdle will give you enough time to think about the decision to start watching something.

2. Remove the recommendations of YouTube


You can add YouTube to StayFocusd, but I often use it for research, so I had to find an alternative. Since sticking on YouTube starts from the same place, it’s enough to remove only one thing: the “Recommendations” section .

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Where YouTube begins ...

When you watch a video, this section is transferred to the right side of the screen. Most languages ​​are read from left to right, so our eyes move in that direction when we browse the web .

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... and never ends.

The very first thing you want to do on YouTube, if you haven't done it yet: turn off auto-play . You can see this in the upper right corner of the screenshot above.

The next step is to install another extension for Chrome, which removes YouTube’s recommendations completely . It adds a simple icon to the extension bar, from which you can turn off many of the visual elements that make your screen not such an alluring black hole.

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Watching the video now looks like this:

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This makes the YouTube viewing process as conscious as possible, we are starting to use the platform thoughtfully. You have to search and choose something that you want to see, instead of choosing at least something that looks good in this situation.

Put off


Say out loud: "I'm bored." Again. Louder.

"I'm bored".

You feel the spirit of freedom, right? This relieves stress. All this pressure to act, look successful, have a great mission and be delightful. When you remember that you miss, you release yourself from obligations. Sometimes we just need it.

Accepting “boredom” is important, but this is only the first step. I know that sensations are scary, but they lead to the right questions and answers. More questions. Such as this one: what if you set off at the moment from which it all began before you watched the first episode of Sesame Street?

When we were children, we replaced boredom with games.

From Charlie Hoem’s book, Play From Here :

“A game is a state in which we become real ourselves, let go of ego and fear, and allow ourselves to look stupid. This is what strengthens our friendship, gives the most precious memories and the endless joy of life. ”

Is it possible to fix a spoiled system of values ​​is as simple as playing hide and seek. Charlie is sure that you can:

“It takes more time to see this, but I finally understood. I really do not function when I regard life as a Work. I think of life as a Game. If I think differently, I take everything too seriously. My health and happiness are crumbling, and my work is terrible. ”

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Simply. The best . A meeting.

Game is the purest form of satisfying our innate need for curiosity. But we stopped perceiving it as such. Perhaps that is why Dr. Gauss called adults "obsolete children." Of course, the adult world does not push us to remain curious.

Here is what Brown Grazer talked about in The Curious Brain :
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What do you do with boredom? I don’t know, but it’s important that you ask yourself this question. I have no idea where curiosity will lead you, but it has taken me away from having to watch eight episodes of The Simpsons in a row. This solution is suitable for teenage riot and adult depression:

“Here is the important thing. Curiosity is not just a great way to improve your life and achieve happiness, but the opportunity to get an excellent job or partner. This is the key to the things that matter most in the modern world: independence, self-determination, self-government, self-development. Curiosity is the path to freedom as such. ”

No matter how you replace boredom, make finding a replacement your first adventure. Search. Dream. Enhance your curiosity and develop it so that when you fall asleep you see not the blue TV screen, but the whole gamut of the colors of life.

Albert Einstein died in 1955. 12 pages of complete equations were found by his bed. That's a lot better than a TV remote, right?

Albert was a man who played life. The man whom we still remember, including for his last words:

“I have no special talents. Only passionate curiosity. ”
- Albert Einstein

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