Recently I moved into a quaint little studio apartment as part of a massive overhaul of my life. I had decided that 2011 was the year of a reevaluation of what was important and necessary to my existence and a overall decluttering of the physical restraints I was convinced were burdening me from seeing exactly where I was supposed to be heading in life, both professionally and creatively. I think we can all agree that 2010 blew the big one as we all floundered to remain afloat as the economy snarfed along wheezing and coughing and generally holing up in a dive bar to drink its misery away. Not 2011, though, I was determined. So, after selling 95% of my worldly possessions and reducing my belongings to what could fit into a 10′x5′ storage unit, I happily moved into a lovely little studio to begin planning what the next phase of this grand adventure will be. I made the decision, because there is no cable outlet here and I certainly wasn’t going to pay to install such in a place I only intend on being for a few months, I placed my television in storage as well. After all, was there anything I would simply die if I couldn’t see on a regular basis? At first, I must admit, I was a bit shellshocked and went into a bit of a withdrawal as I was not able to distract myself at times with Ghost Adventures, Anthony Bourdaine’s No Reservations or Holly’s World (yes, a guilty pleasure of mine). However, it wasn’t long before I realized just how much time I had been wasting with these distractions! Even though my television consumption was modest by modern American standards, I figured I was spending between 14 and 20 hours a week in front of the tube. Valuable time I could be spending creating or visiting friends or attending events! I went from writing 1000 words a day and songwriting for an hour a night to over 2000 words a day, playing my guitar several hours a night, as well as tending to a myriad of other projects that I had seemed not to have the time to “get to” before. Those few moments when I do run out of energy to work on projects I read. And it’s lovely! My life feels less stressful somehow even though I’m working more than ever and my wee short attention span more focused and grounded than before. I suppose what I’m getting at here is, if you’re an artist of any sort be it a writer, songwriter or visual artist, consider possibly either getting rid of your TV or placing it in storage for a while as an experiment to see just how much your productivity increases. If you’re dying for a show every once in a while there’s always Hulu. Trust me, after the shaking stops from your television withdrawal, you’ll thank me for it!

Tags: life, Television, writing

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