Escaping the media vortex

Have you ever had the feeling of being "sucked" into your TV or computer and lose the notion of time? You're not alone. Nowadays media is so professional, and the viewing devices are so good - HD TVs, laptops, mobile phones, etc - that you are not alone, for sure.

Clipart credit: clker.com

The problem of this is that you end up being mostly a consumer of information and not a producer. This numbs your mind and makes it more difficult to be sharp in your knowledge-based work.

As a computer scientist, I've personally experienced this as a major obstacle in my work.

Here are some hard-learned tips to escape the media vortex.

TV


1) Have only one TV at home. Keep it on a central part of the house, a common zone. Watching TV should be a family experience. Family get together and not family each one for him/herself.

2) Make turning on the TV hard. People are lazy by default and you can avoid casual TV viewing if you have to remove a cover or turn on a projector or something that entails some work, even if minimal.

3) Forget cable. All the money you spend on all those channels you don't watch can be used to buy the movies you really want, either on disc or on-line (iTunes). For sporting events, go to a restaurant or a coffee shop with some friends and watch it there.

4) Don't "let's see what's playing on TV now". See the listings and turn on the TV to watch the programs you want to watch.


Computer


1) You can work at the computer but you can also have fun. Long gone are times when you saying "I'm at the computer" was equivalent to say "I'm working".

2) Your computer is a super TV. Internet media delivery can be even more addictive than TV. You can spend hours in YouTube and other similar sites viewing clips and related clips, and related clips, and... you get the picture.

3) Use your computer as a tool. Close the lid and open it saying: "I'm going to use the computer to write a document", "I'm going to read an article", "I'm going to watch the latest episode of my favorite TV show", etc.

3) Social networks are also very addictive. You want to see what is happening with your friends, etc. Pick a time of the week to go there, like the weekend. Or use the last 20 minutes before lunch.

4) Avoid the temptation of starting something else when the computer is "thinking" (e.g. hourglass in Windows, colorful ball in Mac, web page loading). Just wait. Don't go check some site or something else. You'll known that you're doing this when you see a program window an say: "Oh, I was trying to do that 10 minutes ago".

5) Implement a "communication hour" in your daily routine, where you enable all your email, instant messaging, blogging, etc; Zero your inbox. After that, disable your internet connection - I really mean it, go to the network options and click disable - and go to work. Have one or two "communication hours" a day and log off the rest of the time and you'll notice how much better you can concentrate.


At first all these tips might seem like a downgrade in your life. You probably will complain, because you're so used to consuming information. But, with some strength of will, you'll overcome and win.

Feel free to share your experiences and media vortex escape tips in the comments.