How to do something audacious

According to Nielsen, the average American spends 158 hours each month watching television(!!).

That's 1,896 hours - 79 full days - per year in front of the boob tube.

In a typical working lifetime from age 20 to age 65, based on these stats, the average American spends more than nine full years staring at the box.

You know where I’m going with this...

Cut out television and you can do anything

People frequently ask me how I find the time to have written 8 books in a decade.

It's easy!

I don't watch television at all (except in the morning when I am on my elliptical trainer).

Do something audacious!

Write a book, start a company, run a marathon, establish a nonprofit, build a house, play the piano. You can do these or anything else you care to do!

If you believe Malcolm Gladwell's idea in Outliers - that you need 10,000 hours of practice to become world class at a task - consider how damned easy it is to find the time! Just cut out television for 5.3 years.

Stop sitting there.

photo credit (without the "no" symbol): Kathleen Farley via photopin cc

Comments

[Janice L. Brown]

Amen! Thank you for this thoughtful post. I stopped watching TV (except when I absolutely need to, for work) decades ago. (This means that someone is using up my 79 days - scary.) Since the print and Internet media cover what's on TV ad nauseum, I can't possibly avoid hearing about "Dancing with the Has-Beens" or "Craven Housewives of Peoria" - so I am easily able to stay in touch with what passes for popular culture today. BTW, I would add "non-distracted parenting" to the aspirational to-do list -- something that can make a huge contribution to the world.

[TiceWrites]

I'm always staggered at the amount of TV most people watch. And they're always the ones complaining that they can't seem to move their careers forward, can never find the time for launching that ebook, etc. If I catch 20 hours in a month for me it's a lot.

I mentored one freelance writer recently who was feeling 'stuck,' and it eventually came out that she has the TV on EVERY WAKING MOMENT. All day long, while she's trying to write. And what do you know, she wasn't very productive!

We gently suggested that perhaps she might try turning it off...

[Jeff Taxdahl]

Wow, it's so simple! The fact that you can find 10,000 hours of time just by cutting out tv is just astonishing. Giving that up, could allow people to do just about anything.

[David Meerman Scott]

Janice - Ha! "Dancing with the Has-Beens"!

Tice - I know, right? When someone says to me "I've got a book I want to write, I just don't have the time, I want to say "I want to be an astronaut, I just don't have the time." (I have only *actually* done it once to a Wall Street type who was putting down my work.

Jeff - Absolutely.

[Richard Lee]

I got rid of my TV in February 2007. After an initial adjustment period, I haven't missed it at all. I only watch TV in a hotel while traveling and it gets old pretty fast. There's nothing of value on it that I can't get through other sources. Oh, did I mention my prdoctivity shot up as well?

[Ruth Seeley]

It's not just that you'll save time by giving up television, you'll also - when you start watching it without commercials and on your own schedule - realize that some folks are actually pushing the boundaries of the medium. So much of what's good on TV - whether it's costume dramas like The Tudors, The Borgias and Mad Men or contemporary series like The Wire, Treme and Breaking Bad - deserve to be watched like films, paying attention to the details of script, cinematography and costuming.

[Facebook Developer]

Great! that means you save your leisure time and written books. Thanks

[Stephanie Elsen]

David, you are an inspiration! About a year ago I got divorced and found myself with more time on my hands. Since then, I decided to quit watching TV and go after my dreams. I started taking belly dancing lessons, a life long dream. I started running again. Recently I've been on the fence about signing up for the Twin Cities Marathon, and your post inspired me to commit to it. I printed off a 6 month training plan and ran my first 3 miles last night. Thank you for being so inspiring!

[Benefit Management]

I am going to send this blog post to some of my friends who (desperately) need this. One of my closest friends who is 21, sits home all day and just watches tv shows. He is a university graduate who can't find work (at least that's what he told me. It is such a shame as I know that he is a smart guy just wasting his day in front of the tv. I really hate tv stations at times...

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[Facebook Developer]

David, you are an inspiration mentor for mine! I have noticed that when you add new post its provide some motivation to achieve anything in life.

[Ray Yagubyan]

thanks