8 things YOU could do with 143 hours!

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IDK why, but this article I just read is bothering me.

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The average American watched an eye-aching 143 hours and 37 minutes of television in the second quarter of 2010, according to the most recent Nielsen survey. Simply put: That's too much TV

Less simply put: that is ONE AND A HALF HOURS OF TV A DAY MY GOD!!! WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE, VEGETABLES?! FAT VEGETABLES?!!?!?

Srsly, am I the only person who does dishes and laundry, vacuums, cooks, eats, exercises and tidies the living room with the TV on?

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Exercise

An hour of jogging each day at just 5 miles an hour will burn 584 calories. And 3,500 calories is how many you'll need to burn to lose a pound of fat. In other words, if people ran as much as they watched TV, and ate healthy food, they could theoretically lose 24 pounds in a month.

Which would be great if I was 24 pounds over weight!

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Build a House

According to a North Carolina Habitat for Humanity organization (PDF), it typically takes 12 people 16 working days to build a home for a needy family. Get 11 of your friends to join you, and that's a brand new house in 128 hours

Assuming one of those 11 people is a plumber, and one is an electrician, and one is well versed in building permits, and one is a structural engineer, and there is space and money available, and that space is near you or else it is going to cost significantly more in time spent, and you live in a town that is not already full of empty friggin houses already...

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Get Scuba Certified

It only takes three or four days to get your scuba certification—a maximum of about 40 hours. Do that in two weekends and you'll still have more than 100 hours for TV

That would be great if I had money! Or gave a shit about scuba diving!

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Become a Yoga Instructor

The Equinox gym chain has a 200-hour yoga teacher certification course. If you devoted less than six weeks of TV time to the training, you could have a healthy side gig and some extra cash for organic dinners out.

JEEZ, I could be using my TV time to work a part time gig!! Who knew there was so much work out there available for the doing?! And I was watching TV all that time like a chump! Money money money here I come!!

Oh hey it turns in order to be certified as a teacher of a thing you need to already know how to do that thing. Equanox reccommends a year of yoga practise. Also there is homework in addition to the 200 hours. Also it is a class so you have to actually make it in at specific days/ times. So I guess if you watch all your TV in long blocks only on weekends you are totally set!

(side note -- I do an hour of yoga a day while watching TV)

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Learn Spanish

Rosetta Stone language software claims it takes 40 to 50 hours to complete the content of each level of their five-level programs. In 143 hours, you could nearly complete level 3, at which point you'd have the skills to, according to Rosetta Stone, "enjoy social interactions such as travel and shopping and ... share your ideas and opinions."

Spend time learning something you never needed before and will probably just forget!

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Get Smarter Than Your Friends

It takes 77 hours and 22 minutes to read the Bible at the pace of a book on tape. Instead of watch TV, you could read the Bible, then read the Koran—which is considerably shorter than the Christian book—and, you know, actually be well versed in heated discussions about Islam and the West.

Wow, reading the Bible and the Koran sure would make me look smarter than my friends if any of them gave a shit about Islam!

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Volunteer

Idealist.org is currently listing more than 12,000 volunteer opportunities, at least one of which is probably near your home, and all of which would love 143 hours of your time.

Eh, OK, that one is vague enough to be viable, I guess. Although it assumes I cannot volunteer and watch TV at the same time (I can and it is called church bake sales).

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Write a Movie

According to film director Luc Besson, it only took him 30 days to write The Professional. Instead of watching TV for almost 150 hours, take about five hours a day and bang out a screenplay in a month. Chances are it won't be any worse than The Tourist.

oh hey turns out the only reason I watch TV instead of typing/ writing/ drawing during my free time is because I get horrible RSI.

I don't watch TV. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Too busy spending all day on the computer.

Are they measuring broadcast TV, Tivo'd TV, or On Demand/DVD watching? And are they checking if there are actually eyeballs glued to the screen, or if the TV is on in the background, while doing something else (like writing or cleaning)?

A few years ago, I would have said this number was way too low (especially on weekends). Now, I hardly ever watch regular TV. So I'm not an average American, I guess.

I watch about two hours of TV a month. So, 143 hours of TV time for me would take...almost six years.

EileenK98 wrote:

Are they measuring broadcast TV, Tivo'd TV, or On Demand/DVD watching? And are they checking if there are actually eyeballs glued to the screen, or if the TV is on in the background, while doing something else (like writing or cleaning)?

A few years ago, I would have said this number was way too low (especially on weekends). Now, I hardly ever watch regular TV. So I'm not an average American, I guess.

This. There are approximately four TV shows I watch on a regular basis-two of them just ended their seasons and won't be back till fall, and the other two won't start their new season till Spring. I occasionally watch DVDs, but most of my time is spent on the computer or reading.

Though since I'm home alone most of the time, I will admit to keeping the TV on as background noise.

OMG SOMEONE WROTE SOME HALF ASSED ARTICLE ON THE INTERNET SUGGESTING WAYS THE AVERAGE PERSON COULD BETTER USE THEIR TIME, I BETTER SHIT MY PANTS!!1!

But seriously, I looked up my Combat Record on Black Ops, and apparently I've spent 23 hours in a game. I also just Prestiged. I suppose this means one could Prestige almost seven times in the time they were watching TV.

Or, each time I lift, it usually takes one to two hours. If we assume it's two hours every time, that's 71 lifting sessions. Going at three a week, that's almost 24 weeks of lifting. That's six months of lifting. You could be swole like Mikey if you didn't watch TV.

I mean, I watch TV too (WHERE ARE THOSE GOOD OLE FASHIONED VALUUUUUUUES, ONWHICHWEUSEDTORELY?!?!?), but you clods are getting way too indignant over something that's almost helpful.

I find the television makes for great white noise when I'm writing. No idea why. And I find television entertaining. If someone saw an opera or a play every day, they'd be considered quite cultured, when a good deal of plays and operas are actually on par intelligence wise with a show like Criminal Minds (Also about as dramatic, and just as much blood), or Boardwalk Empire (Once again, killing folks is a tried and true theater tradition), or True Blood (Sex and blood).

Or some shows bad? Oh gawd yes, and you should feel dumber for watching them. The fact that Jersey Shore is on its third or fourth season, while fun shows like Firefly got killed, makes me want to stab a TV exec with an icepick. But that doesn't mean all television is garbage. It should be moderated, yes, like most things, and spending time outside is important to overall health.

But when I get home from work, and my brain is mush, I like to watch something entertaining so I can have the benefit of not-thinking for an hour or so. Whether that's American Dad or Supernatural has no effect on the fact that I exercise daily, eat healthy, and enjoy a social life.

Also, why would I want to be a yoga instructor? No offense if anyone is one, but that job doesn't seem like it would pay enough to keep the bills in check.

Lapinina wrote:

Also, why would I want to be a yoga instructor? No offense if anyone is one, but that job doesn't seem like it would pay enough to keep the bills in check.

Don't underestimate how much money idiot white people are willing to spend on a fake work out. ESPECIALLY if you can market it as some foreign secret to flush the body of "toxins," or some such ridiculous horseshit.

I imagine it depends on the area. Bumblefuck KY yoga instructors probably don't make much money because the people around here are FUCKING MEN and if we have toxins we SMASH THEM OUT OF US WITH ROCKS! Plus we're broke.

The poofters in LA would probably pay $500 just to be able to say they do yoga.

Plus, srs now, one could teach yoga classes in addition to 4reelz personal training. It's not like teaching some asinine stretches is real teaching, with curriculum and lesson plans and tests and grading scales and shit. Just throw together 30 minutes of bullshit three nights a week, charge people $10 a lesson, and get a real job with the rest of your week.

EileenK98 wrote:

Are they measuring broadcast TV, Tivo'd TV, or On Demand/DVD watching? And are they checking if there are actually eyeballs glued to the screen, or if the TV is on in the background, while doing something else (like writing or cleaning)?

That is the thing that actually bothers me about the article, that stat is useless with that clarification. I mean, an hour and a half of zombie-time a day is a lot, but as I mentioned earlier, I do things while my TV is on. My mom does thing while the TV is on. My dad does things while the TV is on. My BFF does things while the TV is on.

The rest I just wanted to riff on because it was condescending fluff. Certainly people exist who could use less TV and more exercise/ creative time/ helping others time/ etc, but, well...

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But when I get home from work, and my brain is mush, I like to watch something entertaining so I can have the benefit of not-thinking for an hour or so.

This. People often watch TV because they are mentally worn out; that time is not usuable for think-y stuff like reading the bible! Reading genre fiction, yeah probably, but not the bible.

Also, as an aside: I have heard people say that eating in front of the TV is bad as the distraction can lead to overeating, but I was wondering how many people who eat alone in their own homes do not eat in front of the TV (or computer) and what do they do instead? Just eating alone and doing nothing else makes me feel really self-conscious for some reason.

Reepy wrote:

People often watch TV because they are mentally worn out

On an average summer's day, my thought process will go something like "GAWD I'm hungry, I'm going to go putt for two hours."

I consider this to be ALMOST as stupid as "I'm mentally exhausted, fuck sleep, I'm going to watch me some Firefly."

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Just eating alone and doing nothing else makes me feel really self-conscious for some reason.

Same here, but watching TV/playing a game on the computer makes me eat LESS due to me getting caught up in whatever it is and so it takes me longer to eat something, which means I figure out I'm getting full sooner.