Entertainment Addiction and Progress

A short reflection on our relationship with entertainment technology.

Photo by Frank Okay on Unsplash

You are probably addicted to something, and it’s probably holding you back.

November across the Western World is a time when men grow their moustaches in support of raising funds for men’s health. Movember is a charity that grown beyond focusing on prostate and testicular cancer and branched out towards all facets of men’s health, including but not limited to, mental health, physical health and suicide prevention.

This is the second year I’ve decided to grow a moustache and raise money, it’s also a period where I reflect on my own health and check in with myself.

You see I am not a hard drug addict, but I do notice myself partaking in behaviours or activities that get in the way of my ambitions. I find that I regularly fall into routines that throw off my consistency and thwart my creative projects.

After thinking about this for some time I began to realize I have become addicted to the feeling of learning through content consumption. The false sense of progress towards my goals from watching someone else explain something. I realized I had to rethink my relationship with consuming content if I want to achieve my goals.

I also began to wonder, how many of us have these great dreams or ideas that we want to pursue but don’t because we fall into old habits or routines that keep us stuck in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction with life?

Maybe addiction is the wrong word, but I find people’s pathological content watching behaviour of film/tv shows, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram concerning.

You see, the consequences of such an addiction are less noticeable. Most people know and understand the potential consequences of hard drug addiction. They understand that drug abuse can lead to serious physical/mental health consequences and even death.

Being addicted to consuming content however will not lead to death, but will lead to a life full of ‘what-ifs,’ ‘maybes,’ and ‘could-have beens.’

Take a moment to think about your day-to-day routine. How much time do you spend consuming television or internet content? Furthermore, think about all the goals you had for the year and how much time you spent working on them.

If you spent less time on your goals then you did watching content you may have an issue. Or better put, if after comparing the two you believe your content watching habit may be inhibiting your ability to achieve your goals you may have a problem.

Some people may get offended at me labelling content consumption an addiction instead of a bad habit, but if we look at the definition of addiction it is the appropriate term:

Addiction: Exhibiting a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behaviour, or activity.

It is estimated that 210 million people worldwide are addicted to social media and the internet, and 5% to 10% of people are addicted to television.

Think about your relationship with entertainment technology and how it effects your progress in other areas of life. You may have to adjust your routines and habits if you are not making progress towards your goals.

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Tom