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I have a big family including several young children and still manage to read about 25 books a year. My method: we got rid of our TV a few years ago. I know t

I have a big family including several young children and still manage to read about 25 books a year. My method: we got rid of our TV a few years ago. I know that is a well worn statement on HN, and probably comes across to some as a virtue signal. That's not my goal, just relating an anecdote. But no TV is strangely freeing. To those thinking about doing it, I'd say unplug it and put it in the closet for a few weeks and see what you think.

mbrundle 6y ago
Similar to this. Have three young kids. Don’t watch any tv, Netflix, etc. Every chance I get (e.g. before going to sleep, on the tube), I read books on the kindle app on my phone. It’s surprising how much you can get through as long as you’re consistent. Phone particularly helps when trying to read when lying next to a kid at bedtime to get them to sleep, can still read under the covers in the dark with the backlight.
paganel 6y ago
Same thing here, though we don't have a kid just yet. In my case the TV cable decoder just stopped working for whatever reason a year and a half ago and I never really managed to call the TV cable company to tell them to come and fix it. I can still watch football (soccer) matches by casting from my computer to the TV and we do have a Netflix account (which we don't even use that heavily) shared with a close friend but that's about it. I can confirm that the change for the best has been considerable.
TheCondor 6y ago
+1. If no TV is “too far” then limit it to 1 hour and only watch things you love, you will surprised how little that is. Dig in to the screen time metrics too, you can probably Twitter and Facebook less than you do, you can still see pictures of your mom’s dog but not lose hours to it.
hrktb 6y ago
This feels powerful in a world where TV consumption is already on sharp decline, yet you managed to move a few floors deeper in the historical entertainment stack. No TV for us just meant playing games elsewhere (not complaining either, just a matter of preferences)

mbrundle 6y ago

Similar to this. Have three young kids. Don’t watch any tv, Netflix, etc. Every chance I get (e.g. before going to sleep, on the tube), I read books on the kindle app on my phone. It’s surprising how much you can get through as long as you’re consistent. Phone particularly helps when trying to read when lying next to a kid at bedtime to get them to sleep, can still read under the covers in the dark with the backlight.

paganel 6y ago

Same thing here, though we don't have a kid just yet. In my case the TV cable decoder just stopped working for whatever reason a year and a half ago and I never really managed to call the TV cable company to tell them to come and fix it. I can still watch football (soccer) matches by casting from my computer to the TV and we do have a Netflix account (which we don't even use that heavily) shared with a close friend but that's about it. I can confirm that the change for the best has been considerable.

TheCondor 6y ago

+1. If no TV is “too far” then limit it to 1 hour and only watch things you love, you will surprised how little that is. Dig in to the screen time metrics too, you can probably Twitter and Facebook less than you do, you can still see pictures of your mom’s dog but not lose hours to it.

hrktb 6y ago

This feels powerful in a world where TV consumption is already on sharp decline, yet you managed to move a few floors deeper in the historical entertainment stack. No TV for us just meant playing games elsewhere (not complaining either, just a matter of preferences)