I am thinking of starting to watch a TV series, but I also don't want to waste time

[preventingdiabetes]

The TV series I am interested in watching is 'Mr. Robot'.

I think the reason why I am finding it interesting is because as someone who enjoys learning about privacy & security in our digital world, I like the whole 'hacking' theme of the series. I also think I can learn some things from it an be inspired.

But I also realize that there is an opportunity cost to watching a 45-episode series (it is finished by the way).

It would take around 35-38 hours to finish it, and as someone who has always thought that watching TV is a complete waste of time, it's a lot of time that could be used towards something else. I could finish a course in such a period of time, which I think is a much better investment of my time.

But that still doesn't stop a part of me desiring to watch it.

What should I do? Should I just watch it? Or forget about it, let it go, and focus on frying bigger fish?

Also, please no spoilers

[Snader]

It's good to be aware of how you spend your time, but that can easily turn into worrying and speculation, which will eat your precious time even more.

Maybe it is time for you to give yourself a little break and enjoy that series. There's nothing wrong with amusement, as long as your relationship with it is healthy 

 

[preventingdiabetes]

14 hours ago, Snader said:

Maybe it is time for you to give yourself a little break and enjoy that series. There's nothing wrong with amusement, as long as your relationship with it is healthy 

@Snader It is quite key for the relationship to be healthy. But I’m not sure if I can keep it that way. How can I prevent it from becoming an addiction? I’m afraid it’ll hijack my dopamine receptors and turn into a vacuum of passivity.  

14 hours ago, Cykaaaa said:

What a coincidence. Just a week ago I watched the first episode of this exact show and came to the conclusion that spending so much time watching the whole series is not worth it for me (even though it was interesting)

That’s interesting. Did you face any resistance in simply deciding not to watch it?

14 hours ago, Cykaaaa said:

Maybe if you REALLY want it, you can let yourself watch one episode per day, after hours of hard work? It's not that big a deal, everyone's gotta relax.

@Cykaaaa I’m not sure if I can really just watch one episode. I have a feeling it’ll turn into two, or even three.  

 

My main worry is whether it’ll affect my ability to sit still and meditate. As well as other focus-related activities that don’t produce as much dopamine as stimulating activities like watching a TV show.

[Carl-Richard]

42 minutes ago, preventingdiabetes said:

My main worry is whether it’ll affect my ability to sit still and meditate. As well as other focus-related activities that don’t produce as much dopamine as stimulating activities like watching a TV show.

The sure way to zap dopamine and ruin meditation is worry itself. Your mind is doing a lot of work. Don't forget your heart ?

[preventingdiabetes]

3 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

The sure way to zap dopamine and ruin meditation is worry itself. Your mind is doing a lot of work. Don't forget your heart ?

Maybe I should have worded it as my main concern rather than worry.

Perhaps my mind is doing a lot of work here, @Carl-Richard how do I listen to my heart?

[mandyjw]

I recently spent under 100$ on something frivolous and it inspired an idea that made me hundreds back. Don't be stingy with your time or money, if you're enjoying something, or drawn to it, why ruin it? You don't know exactly what will come of anything you do. As best you can, follow inspiration and sit with boredom or lack. 

[Carl-Richard]

5 hours ago, preventingdiabetes said:

Perhaps my mind is doing a lot of work here, @Carl-Richard how do I listen to my heart?

Listen to @mandyjw

[Danioover9000]

@preventingdiabetes

On 12/28/2021 at 1:59 PM, preventingdiabetes said:

The TV series I am interested in watching is 'Mr. Robot'.

I think the reason why I am finding it interesting is because as someone who enjoys learning about privacy & security in our digital world, I like the whole 'hacking' theme of the series. I also think I can learn some things from it an be inspired.

But I also realize that there is an opportunity cost to watching a 45-episode series (it is finished by the way).

It would take around 35-38 hours to finish it, and as someone who has always thought that watching TV is a complete waste of time, it's a lot of time that could be used towards something else. I could finish a course in such a period of time, which I think is a much better investment of my time.

But that still doesn't stop a part of me desiring to watch it.

What should I do? Should I just watch it? Or forget about it, let it go, and focus on frying bigger fish?

Also, please no spoilers

   All recreational activities are not time wasters, even watching tv shows are not, as long as you are aware that you need to rest. All recreational activities can make you feel less or more rested.

[preventingdiabetes]

2 hours ago, mandyjw said:

I recently spent under 100$ on something frivolous and it inspired an idea that made me hundreds back. Don't be stingy with your time or money, if you're enjoying something, or drawn to it, why ruin it? You don't know exactly what will come of anything you do. 

@mandyjw I really want to work through this stinginess and scarcity mindset. I think I got it from my parents. How can I stop being so stingy?
 

2 hours ago, mandyjw said:

As best you can, follow inspiration and sit with boredom or lack. 

How do I follow inspiration and sit with boredom or lack simultaneously? Is sitting with boredom and lack akin to a meditation practice like strong-determination sitting? Or was this a typo? 

[universe]

This show is one of the best shit you can find out there.

Don't want to pick sides tho. You do you

[preventingdiabetes]

55 minutes ago, universe said:

This show is one of the best shit you can find out there.

Don't want to pick sides tho. You do you

@universe Have you watched it? I am interested in your thoughts on what I should do.

[mandyjw]

1 hour ago, preventingdiabetes said:

@mandyjw I really want to work through this stinginess and scarcity mindset. I think I got it from my parents. How can I stop being so stingy?

If a thought that you have around money or time feels bad to think, drop it. Don't believe what it says. Appreciate things that aren't yours. Appreciate things that are yours. Appreciate the sky. Appreciate all day long. Appreciation appreciates in value. 

1 hour ago, preventingdiabetes said:

How do I follow inspiration and sit with boredom or lack simultaneously? Is sitting with boredom and lack akin to a meditation practice like strong-determination sitting? Or was this a typo? 

I didn't mean at the same time. if an idea comes to you and it feels good, uplifting, inspiring, fun, etc, follow it. If you are bored or feel like something is missing, don't look for something to distract yourself, sit with it. It doesn't have to be formal mediation, just sit and feel it instead of avoiding it. Then you become the open space for real inspiration to hit. Don't settle for less. That's the heart of your question and desire, you know inherently that you shouldn't settle. However the "good" you know you are worthy of isn't inherent in the thing, circumstance or activity, you are the good and when you connect with you, and appreciate in full acceptance of yourself all else follows. ❤

[preventingdiabetes]

6 hours ago, mandyjw said:

If a thought that you have around money or time feels bad to think, drop it. Don't believe what it says.

@mandyjwBut this is so difficult. It goes against my survival instincts that I've grown up with. How do we survive if we just drop thoughts that don't feel good to us? It probably doesn't feel good to simply drop the thought that if I don't figure out a way to pay my bills, I'll be homeless, or at enslaved to working 16 hours a day (not that I have ever been in that position).

How do I simply just 'drop it'?
 

6 hours ago, mandyjw said:

Then you become the open space for real inspiration to hit. Don't settle for less. That's the heart of your question and desire, you know inherently that you shouldn't settle. However the "good" you know you are worthy of isn't inherent in the thing, circumstance or activity, you are the good and when you connect with you, and appreciate in full acceptance of yourself all else follows. ❤

I don't understand. I will try rereading this later and see if I can comprehend it.

 

6 hours ago, Something Funny said:

Dude, personally, it is one of the best shows that I've ever watched. It definitely was worth my time. I actually watched it a couple of times (ones by myself, and ones with my sister).

@Something Funny Did it inspire you in any way? If so, in what way?

 

6 hours ago, Something Funny said:

To be honest, I was not able to not binge it.

Why?
 

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I find that for me binging works best. I think it's better to consciously dedicate some time, to binge watch a show, then try to restrict yourself to 1 episode daily, dragging it over a few months and constantly guilt tripping yourself.

Do you feel a rush of inspiration to create after that period of binging... or consuming?

 

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I think that the best strategy when you want to watch a show, read a fiction book, play a video game is to give yourself a rest week, where you only do what you consider to be essential and chill the rest of the time.

It's the holidays for me, so theoretically I could just sit and watch it all day. I don't know if I should.

[Ulax]

@preventingdiabetes There is plenty of time. Watch it.

Edit: I'd like to add the following. I believe all 'wants' are acceptable, and worthy of love, respect and protection. I caveat that with my belief that one should not act on a want where it would be abusive to other beings to do so.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Ulax
Described in this post

[Snader]

On 29.12.2021 at 11:02 AM, preventingdiabetes said:

It is quite key for the relationship to be healthy. But I’m not sure if I can keep it that way. How can I prevent it from becoming an addiction? I’m afraid it’ll hijack my dopamine receptors and turn into a vacuum of passivity.  

In the worst-case scenario you end up marathoning through the show in few days. At that point you're probably disgusted by TV and eager to get back to more important stuff. Not much harm done, actually there could be a lesson there.

Maybe it's good to also check how's your motivation to those other things you could be doing. You might have a rough picture of what you SHOULD be doing or things that are important to your development or well-being, but do you have the actual and concrete action steps? And if you do, are you motivated doing them? That urge to watch that show could also be kind of escapeing from uncomfortable feelings you experience with your life at the moment.

Or maybe you've done a lot of work lately, having big changes that you are not quite used to in the long term? That can lead to backlash, which might also explaing your urge to lean a little bit to the passive and comfortable side.

However, a state of balance in everyday life is something to work for. It's quite hard especially in certain areas, but totally worth it. Sometimes you slip more than you're supposed to, but that will be another lesson for the future. And at the end of the day, it's only life

[Epikur]

Movie recaps can save time
 

Mr. Robot - Season 1 RECAP!!!

[mandyjw]

7 hours ago, preventingdiabetes said:

@mandyjwBut this is so difficult. It goes against my survival instincts that I've grown up with. How do we survive if we just drop thoughts that don't feel good to us? It probably doesn't feel good to simply drop the thought that if I don't figure out a way to pay my bills, I'll be homeless, or at enslaved to working 16 hours a day (not that I have ever been in that position).

When you were a fetus, and later a baby you didn't think about your survival. What you do now is actually a hinderance to it, not a help to it. No amount of worry got the Earth to be just the right distance from the sun. There are two ways of thinking, one is focus on lack. "I do not have enough money to eat healthy food." The second is focus on wellbeing. "Oatmeal is so healthy, costs so little, and I feel great when I eat it."

Worry blocks creative ideas from coming. Creative ideas bring money and solutions. Unexpectedly. Surprisingly. On their own timeline, not a forced one. Worry creates stress and illness in the body, which is against, not FOR survival. So the question arises? WHAT exactly is surviving? What is being served when I think thoughts that make me feel stressed or lacking? The thoughts are. Not you. The THOUGHTS. The thoughts. They are like a tapeworm in your stomach and you're working your ass off double time to feed it, thinking it's you. It's not you. The thoughts survive and thrive, not you. 

Find thoughts around money and time that feel better. Journal. Express the ones that don't, in words, in front of your eyes, with the knowledge that they ARE THE TAPEWORM. Not you. They are not true. Barf up the tapeworm. Then use thoughts to finally nourish the REAL YOU. 

[preventingdiabetes]

3 hours ago, Snader said:

In the worst-case scenario you end up marathoning through the show in few days. At that point you're probably disgusted by TV and eager to get back to more important stuff. Not much harm done, actually there could be a lesson there.

@Snader This is also what I was thinking.

However, I think this part

Quote

At that point you're probably disgusted by TV and eager to get back to more important stuff. Not much harm done, actually there could be a lesson there.

would actually be the best-case scenario for me.

The worst-case scenario would be that, after finishing watching the show, my mind would start craving mental stimulation thinking 'What's next?' 

That's where there will be inertia if I want to have a productive lifestyle again.

On the other hand, it could serve as a catalyst for my motivation. If I exhaust this desire to watch this show, watch it mindfully with observation, I may naturally want to move on to 'bigger' things. Otherwise it might just be nagging me.

Plus it'll be a relatively new experience as I have never watched a full TV show before.
 

 

3 hours ago, Snader said:

Maybe it's good to also check how's your motivation to those other things you could be doing. You might have a rough picture of what you SHOULD be doing or things that are important to your development or well-being, but do you have the actual and concrete action steps?

I have fuzzy, airy-fairy ideas of what I want to be doing and the big picture things I want to be accomplishing, but I am in the process of solidifying them. I do not yet have concrete action steps, but I do have general action steps in mind to hone in on my vision more, which I am still in the process of doing.
 

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And if you do, are you motivated doing them?

Not as motivated as I am to watch this show currently.
 

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That urge to watch that show could also be kind of escapeing from uncomfortable feelings you experience with your life at the moment.

See, that is what I am concerned about. Where to draw the line between escapism and simply desiring to do it? What type of questions could I ask myself to figure this out?

[preventingdiabetes]

3 hours ago, Epikur said:

Movie recaps can save time
 

Mr. Robot - Season 1 RECAP!!!

@Epikur Are you suggesting that I just watch recaps of all 4 seasons? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of watching a series?

[Eph75]

@preventingdiabetes

Why make this so complicated?

Watch the series (it's a good one ) - watching TV series isn't unhealthy.

If you are worried about spending too much time, cap it to 1 episode per day so that you don't end up binge watching.

If you have an addictive behavior around screen watching, cap the overall screen time per day. That forces you to prioritize your watching time. 

Use other times to whatever productivity you want to pursue. 

In fact you can use watching an episode as a reward for having done something productive, enforcing a healthy relationship with and habit around doing productive things, get your dopamines flowing. 

Plan your productivity, plan your rewards. 

Balance is key.

Edited December 30, 2021 by Eph75