There's a reason why it's called an idiot box! This how-to will teach you how to quit watching so much television, and to get out there and enjoy life!


Steps

1. Get a TiVo or another P/DVR. People with TiVo's and DVR's watch less TV, but get to watch the programs that they like. You don't feel like you're losing valuable TV time, and you are forced to choose between shows that you can't live without and shows that you can do without.
2. Watch TV only in one area of the house: the den/living room. Banish the TV from the kitchen, bedroom or the bathroom. Better yet, keep your tv in the room of your house sporting the least ambience. Install a metal folding chair there as the only furniture. This way, if there is a hot news story you need to follow, you can catch up on the latest without being tempted to hang out for too long.
3. Watch TV shows on DVD's. No more mindless browsing and finding something interesting.
4. Watch shows from beginning to end. Don't jump in and watch it halfway through the schedule. Go online and check if it is coming around again. If it's not, then it probably wasn't that interesting since you never bothered to look it up.
5. Have Game Nights. Get your group of friends together and play poker, or board games. Put on some music, tell them to bring drinks and chips, set out the salsa and the paper cups. Hassle free fun.
6. Go out and watch people live. Hang out and read and watch people.
7. Don't just watch, do. Go meet new people by joining hobby clubs that meet after work or school. Make new friends.
8. Mute the TV during commercials.
9. Read books, or build models.
10. Turn on the radio if you need the background noise.
11. Don't deprive yourself of television completely. This article is how to watch less TV, so slowly cut back on the amount you spend watching TV per day.

Tips

• The key is, to do the things that you would rather do than watch TV.
• Commit to this: watching TV is not bad. You are not forbidden from watching TV. As such, TV programming (with the advent of PVR's and DVD's) will never run out, so don't feel the need to take all of it in.
• Remember, the first step in solving a problem is admitting you have one!

Warnings

• You might actually become more interesting if you do more things other than watching TV. Be aware that people find that attractive.