Drastic Tips to Becoming More Productive

In The best way to use time efficiently, I mentioned how productivity could be increased by the set-up of your workspace; however, I came across an article, 4 Tips for Becoming A More Productive Entrepreneur, that takes a look at some drastic (in my opinion) changes in your life that could increase your productivity. Here is a brief glimpse into the article:

Don’t Watch Television

Mid this year I moved into a new house – my first home. As you do when you get your first home, you have a lot of stuff to buy. Furniture, dishes, cutlery, fridge, washing machine and of course – the TV.

I went out and bought a new flat-screen television – not a super big one, but a bigger TV than I have had before (see the picture to the left – that’s my TV). Australia, in recent years, rolled out a digital broadcast free-to-air service (cable is not that big here) and having never purchased a digital television or digital receiver I didn’t know much about the technology.

I was over a friend’s place and she had a digital set-top box and wow – she had perfect picture but not only that, she got an EXTRA channel for free. That was cool I thought, so I decided I wanted a digital television too, so I bought one.

When buying the TV the packaging said it had an in-built digital tuner, which I took to mean it had an in-built digital receiver. Turns out I was wrong and it didn’t even come with an aerial, so after taking it out of the box I couldn’t receive any television channels.

I wrote down on my very large to-buy list (you know how big this thing gets when you move into a new place) to purchase an aerial or digital receiver box, however I never got around to it.

Instead I started watching DVDs. I still had a lot of StomperNet DVDs to get through and I also had Mike Filsaime’s 7 Figure Code product to watch too (which is excellent by the way), so I began watching one DVD at lunch while I cooked and ate.

A few weeks went by and I didn’t have any commercial television. I admit it – I had Simpsons-withdrawal and I also missed music video clips, but I definitely wasn’t missing all the horror stories that the news constantly dishes out, the celebrity following, the brain-draining commercials and all the mindless shows that today’s society calls entertainment.

It’s amazing the emotion television stirs up and how pervasive it is in your life – it’s so easy to just turn it on and chill for a while, where in reality you are sucking up a lot of unhealthy junk. It’s now been several months with no TV and I’m not going back any time soon, although I might need to do something when the Australian Open tennis comes in January.

Besides just feeling better, not having TV means you turn to more productive things to do, like reading books, exercise, working on your blog/business and actually creating output, studying other resources, or if you do want some entertainment, you can grab a DVD of your favorite television series and not have to watch commercials. I’d pay a few dollars to watch Lost and The 4400 with no ads – that is for sure!

Honestly, I’m surprised how good this change has been and I bet you try it you will be blown away by how much more you get done and how much better you feel. There are some things in life you don’t need to know and 99% of television falls into that bracket – you can get the 1% you need to know in a much better format by going online, or reading a book or magazine or talking to other humans…

I have never been to Australia, so I don’t know exactly what channels and programming are offered, but for me this seems like it would never be possible. The author makes a good point about shows coming out on DVD, but I always like to see my shows right when they come out; moreover, the television is always on at my house (even if it is not being watched). During the day it is filled with either news or ESPN, followed by comedy lineups during late afternoon, continued with the primetime line-up or sports game at night, and rounded off with a nice marathon of Nick at Nite (I can never get enough of the Fresh Prince).

Now I can see where I could easily cut down on television, and, where just canceling it all together would probably be out of the question, perhaps I could use my DVR more and get updated on all my shows when I am not working. I could also save time by fast forwarding through commercials.

So maybe I will try a no television method for a week or something, but all in good time. I don’t want to rush into to things too quickly now. Either way you should definitely check out the rest of 4 Tips for Becoming A More Productive Entrepreneur by Yaro Starak at Entrepreneurs’ Journey.