Media consumption and time management

With all the different types of media we consume, I’m curious how you manage time for everything. Movies and TV, podcasts, books, audiobooks, comics, music, video games, online video, etc. Not everyone is into everything, but I’ll bet many of us are into a lot of it.

I tend to watch TV on my schedule, catching up on my lunch hour, or weekends. Occasionally I’ll watch a show when it airs. I tend to be behind on the Netflix movie/show du jour. I’ve never seen House of Cards and haven’t watched Bird Box. I don’t subscribe to any of the premium channels, so miss most of that. Except Game of Thrones, I’ll subscribe just for that one. I do subscribe to DC Universe and have been watching some stuff there when I can. I’ll be all over the Disney service when that comes out.

As for books, I generally read and listen to the same book. Amazon’s whispersync is great for this. I can listen while getting ready for work, pick up reading at the same spot during breakfast, then listen again while I’m driving. I’m also a big comic reader, so I have to split my time between comics and prose, and sometime feel like I’m behind on both.

After I finish a book, I’ll spend a week, or so, catching up on podcasts (and reading older comic runs). Podcasts aren’t as important to me, so I can wait on those. I’ll listen to my favorites the day they come out, but I can wait on others. Also, I don’t listen to every episode of every podcast I subscribe to, only the ones with topics I’m interested in.

Youtube when I can, or when I’m bored.

Last is video games. I like video games a lot, but I know I can get drawn in and end up sacrificing everything else. So, thankfully, I’ve learned to limit my time playing, and how often I play.

Of course, sometimes I get home from work, I’m so tired, and don’t want to do anything.

I’ve pretty much stopped watching TV and movies, with very few exceptions, and generally play computer games instead,most evenings, whilst listening to my music.

I read at work during lunch, and usually for a bit before bed. I don’t read as much as I used to.

Regarding television, the problem is there’s too much of it on too many different platforms, most of which require separate subscriptions. There were over 500 original scripted series in 2018. So no one is watching everything and no one can subscribe to all the services. So you have to pick and choose. I have cable TV with HBO, Showtime and Starz. So I’m never going to see anything on Hulu, Amazon, Netflix or any of the other streaming services. And of the stuff on broadcast TV, basic cable or premium cable, I only watch some stuff, generally on tape delay, so if it’s got commercials, I can use the thirty-second skip button to avoid them. So a sixty minute show can be watched in under 45 minutes. And I’m fairly quick to give up on a program if it seems boring. I also read the previews and reviews to see if something new is worthwhile.

I’ve largely given up on media consumption, at least in terms of television and film. Paradoxically, I think it is because there is too much legitimately good stuff.

My timelines might be a little off, but I think my aggregate point will be accurate. There was a time when I felt television got really interesting with shows like the Sopranos and the Wire and Breaking Bad and the like. At that point I did feel a compulsion not to miss out on these and would make the time to watch them, if not right at air date at least within a few years once they made them to the streaming services (or in the early days, Netflix DVDs) I used.

But now Netflix and Amazon and sometimes others not only are producing a huge number of actually excellent content, but also quite a lot of extremely niche content that almost seems designed to appeal to much smaller sets of audiences. So I tend to find that it is impossible to see everything that not only is very good but is also specifically my sort of thing. So I’ve given up, and come to terms with the fact that I’m going to miss a lot of really interesting things. Sometimes I’ll watch something (we recently watched Amazon’s “Patriot” and loved it, but that was weeks ago now), but honestly I’ve mostly stopped looking for things. I tend to spend time practicing the piano these evenings, and read books and listen to podcasts during my commuting hours, but with smaller kids don’t really have much time for anything else.

BTW, when I grew up, there were only a few television stations; affiliates for ABC, CBS and NBC, a public television station and maybe a couple of independent stations. (We were lucky in that in that part of Connecticut, we could get the stations from New York City as well as Connecticut via antenna.) And before the VCR, you either watched a show when it aired, or you didn’t watch it at all. But the next day at school or at work, you could be reasonably certain that most people had seen the same show you had. Not like today, where some watch the show as it airs, some watch it two or three days later and some binge the entire season or the entire series all at once. Nowadays, a successful show might be seen by only a couple million people, whereas earlier, that small an audience would have resulted in cancellation.

I think a balance is good. It’s supposed to be relaxing and fun, best to not burn out on any particular thing. Personally on nights I’m home I tend to unwind and watch TV until 9 or 10, then get on the PC and take care of business/finances/email before playing computer games the rest of the evening.

I have cable with no premium channels, Netflix and Amazon. I have an Amazon Fire tablet, a Kindle reader, and my iPhone.

I listen to books that I borrow from OverDrive when I’m in the car or walking.

I read an actual paper newspaper every morning with breakfast.

After supper on weekdays, I generally have regular network (ABC, CBS, NBC) shows to watch. I’m usually recording some shows as I watch others. Since using a DVR, I have a hard time watching anything with commercials. If I do have to suffer through commercials, I play a game on my phone while the commercial is on.

If I’m doing a mundane task at work, I listen to podcasts.

On weekends I catch up on my DVR recordings and then watch Netflix or Amazon or sometimes there’s something on cable that will catch my attention. I find I watch more series than I do movies. And because there is so much to choose from, I’ll give up on a series or movie if it doesn’t draw me in. There’s always something else.

When I go to bed, I generally read or watch something (both done on Amazon Fire) for a half hour or so.

In the summer when I can be outside, I sit on the patio and read books on my Kindle. Once in a while, I’ll read a magazine or an actual paper-type book.

Our (and it’s more “my”) biggest sacrifice has been TV. I just don’t have the time or the inclination to sit down and watch a TV show each and every week. Everything else is on a pretty set schedule with my workday.

Music: This is the Sirius XM in my car and Youtube/Pandora during my work day. I am blessed to have my own office and can easily play music at a low volume without bugging my coworkers, so music is happening a lot. It’s also where I catch up on YouTube videos as well when I need a break from work.

Movies: The Cups household is a huge fan of AMC A-List and tout it whenever we can. We see a movie pretty much every week and it’s solely because of A-List.

TV: Like I said, this is the big sacrifice for me. My work’s commute gets me home late every day and I work a separate job on the weekends, so I just don’t have much time for TV. When I do watch it it’s usually sports or wrestling. I’ll watch a show every now and again (The Masked Singer, Agents of SHIELD, Reverie or GLOW or something), but if it’s not sports or cartoons on Saturday morning…I’m kinda out.

Reading: I read every day at lunch and love it! I usually do my kindle, but every once in a while one of my favorite authors will put out a new book and I’ll read that. It’s honestly one of my favorite parts of my workweek.

Podcasts: I’ll listen to a podcast on the drive home most of the days of the week. I’m into a large series spanning the Harry Potter books, once that’s done I imagine I’ll cut my podcasting down.

Video Games: This is my biggest one other than movies. If I have time to myself (or Mrs. Cups is wathcing one of her godawful Bravo shows) I’m playing my Playstation