I’m not sure about most of you, but I’m constantly looking for ways to improve myself. One of the things that I struggle against is time management at home. It seems like I never have enough time to pursue all the activities and learning experiences that I dream up on a regular basis.
I was trying to decide how I could free up more time to focus on building this blog and update some skills when I stumbled on a few interesting posts on “Get Rich Slowly” I thought worth sharing:
In the first article, the author (Erica) cites a book stating that television viewers report that watching the TV is a less satisfying experience than other leisure/work activities. She mentions that many folks turn on the TV and watch “whatever”, rather than having a specific show in mind. She recommended instead that by using technology such as a DVR (or a Media Center as mentioned in one of my previous posts) for recording and playback of the shows you most enjoy, you can use the time you would otherwise waste on more gainful pursuits. Erica also warns that aimless surfing of the Internet can put you in a similar situation of wasting time. By making your TV/Internet habits more purposeful, you can easily free up time for other goal-oriented activities to improve your life. That’s a lot of time to be gained by a few small changes! Plus, if you notice you’re not using your TV as much, you can potentially change your cable subscription and save money!
The second article takes the idea a step further by looking for alternatives to cable. The author (J.D.) does some analysis around the amount of TV he watches, and the cost per hour. He compared this with the cost of Netflix subscriptions and iTunes purchases, and found he could save significant money by utilizing one of these alternatives. Again, as mentioned in my post about Media Centers, you can easily watch Netflix and/or iTunes downloads on your TV by utilizing some form of Media Center. I also think you can take this a step further and completely eliminate your cable costs if the shows you enjoy are on TV websites like Hulu.
After thinking about this, I know I am at times guilty of watching “whatever” was on TV. In all reality, there are only a few shows that I truly enjoy watching: 24 and Family Guy (with House, The Simpsons, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, and Two and a Half Men the close followers but not religiously watched). Looking at my own cable bill, I spend approximately $60/month for Digital Cable, that I don’t even particularly enjoy using! That’s definitely over $700 per year that I could be saving by watching my two favorite shows via the Internet! It’s also a significant amount of new time found each week where I can focus on blogging and learning fun new skills! My goal for the rest of the year: convince my fiancé that we should drop cable (or at least reduce it to local channels much like J.D. and Erica)!
If you’re looking for a way to be more productive at home (which could provide you the time to grow and improve your skills and business), changing your Internet and TV habits seems like an easy, small change! If you have any questions about setting up a Media Center to capture those few shows you can’t live without, feel free to Contact me!
UPDATE: I’ve also started using a Netflix streaming subscription. This way, I can watch the movies and/or TV shows that I want to watch, when I want to watch them. Compare this ($9/month) to the $60/month for Digital Cable. You too can save money on cable with Netflix!
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