This topic is a personal favourite. I am also guilty of too much TV: watching dramas and animes for hours and hours straight, only stopping for toilet breaks or to eat. In fact, I wrote this after finishing a 15 episode-streak of the anime classic Slam Dunk.
The addiction can be detrimental at times, especially when you have an important assignment due or even a paper the next day, and you are torn between finding out what happens next and actually bring productive.
I would like to point out that addiction in drama or anime is not something to be guilty or depressed about, although poor handling of the issue can be a problem when it starts to cause you to perform poorly. On one hand, you know you should be working, on the other you just can’t stop. Like many other problems, the key really is to identify the cause and gradually make some changes to your life to solve this problem.
The Cause
1. Procrastination
A very common reason for spending too much time on drama or anime that I can identify with is procrastination. During the finals period, you would tend to observe activity on facebook increase hysterically because students would be taking a break from the hectic revision. Similarly, for some people, their way of taking a break is to watch an episode or two.
This could be dangerous when it turns to a form of escapism. “I’ll continue studying after this episode,” you tell yourself, but the truth is, studying sucks and you just want to continue enjoying the pleasure of watching, only to regret it later.
2. Its just sooo good
It can start from an innocent thought where you have 2 hours of free time and you thought “I’d watch some drama to kill time.” Subsequently and unwittingly, you get sucked in the vortex and before you know it, the end of each episode keeps you wanting for more, and you just had to keep watching. Sounds familiar? And this leisure activity goes beyond your “free time” and invades into your productive time where you should be working.
The Solution
After you identified the cause of your addiction, you got to think of ways to curb this addiction. There is no one solution for this, and a lot depends on your own mentality. That said, here are some ways that I have used to get myself to work rather than indulge further.
1.Find Motivation
Sometimes what is stopping you from doing your impending task is really a lack of motivation. You can conveniently find excuses like “I'll stop watching after this episode” and “I have to find out the ending” , but really the trick is to find a good motivation and underlying reason for you to get down to work rather than watching too much TV.
Think about the rewards – weigh the pros and cons. I can get a good feeling from watching drama, but that’s about it. On the other hand, the reward of completing a task is a permanent achievement – like good grades for your exams, or work that translates to more income. By viewing the situation in this manner, you will get more motivation to switch off the video and start working.
2.It’s the state of the mind
Work on self-hypnosis and convince yourself that something good would happen to you if you start doing something else. I once dragged myself to the library only to my pleasant surprise meet a female celebrity that I liked. And yes, we chatted J So maybe, a good event would happen to you if you did something else rather than stayed at home stuck in front of your television screen.
3.Watch currently airing series only
Well, one thing I am glad about my addiction for the One Piece anime is that it comes only once a week, 20 mins each episode. So even if I crave for more, there’s no way I could continue watching. Thus it could be a good idea to follow dramas or anime that are currently airing, and stay away from completed series!
If there is an old series you must watch, and you just have to find out what happens next (You know, those exciting scenes where something is about to be revealed only to have the ending credits pops up), one advice I would give is to only watch the next part of the following episode (the first 10-15mins) and then stop.
4.Discipline and Timetable
I think one of the most effective solutions is to have a timetable, where you clearly demarcate your Drama time and Work time. I have a mantra of 1 hour of work for 1 episode of anime. Furthermore, i realized that if I share with my friends my timetable it is actually helpful in a sense that they can encourage me to follow through my schedule.
Encourage and reward yourself to be disciplined such that you do not exceed your allocated timings for enjoying your drama. Sometimes, the slow process of watching the series gives us more time to enjoy and savour the beautiful plot!
Final Words
In summary, the next time you click play on your favourite anime or drama, think about the opportunity cost. Do you really have the time? Is it worth giving up your impending work for the short-lived pleasure of finding out what happens next in the virtual world?
PS: Even though i wrote this after a 15-episode streak, it was only because I have finished my exams and assignments, and I decided to reward myself with this well-deserved break!
