Turning My Binge-Watching Addiction Into A Productivity Hack
From squeezing an extra episode to writing an article
I found myself in front of my laptop, it had been 8 hours. I wanted to stop, but I just couldn’t. I was deeply immersed in the characters of this fantasy called Game of Thrones.
I would come running after the office and watch it for 8 hours straight. Glued to my laptop, sometimes on the table, most times on the bed. The only point I got off the screen was when my mother called for dinner. Four days gone, my parents were getting worried, they had my sister call me to ask if I am doing well. I told her that I have been binge-watching. I finished 7 seasons in 7 days.
That was 2017. But, when the lockdown was implemented due to coronavirus, I found myself grappling with the same situation. Only this time it was much intense. With all the extra time in hand saved in commute, I was on a rampage, finishing show after show. I never thought that this would happen to me again. I would wake up groggy, only to finish my work and start watching the next episode on Netflix. When you are stuck all alone in a match-box sized apartment, Netflix becomes your only friend.
Addiction, eh?
First, we need to know when can we call binge-watching, an addiction. Watching an entire season at a stretch once in a while? No, I don’t think so. That’s not an addiction. That’s just a way to kill boredom, right?
It becomes an addiction when the laptop or the TV screen prioritizes other tasks that are important. When you are not watching it, you are just waiting to watch, thinking about it all the time. That feeling of anticipation of a reward(watching a show), makes you anxious. When you are not sleeping despite being sleepy because you want to squeeze in another episode. Waking up with the intention of what happens next. Will Jon Snow come to life?
If these are the signs, it would be relatively safe to assume that it is an addiction.
There are withdrawal symptoms as well. When things opened up after the lockdown, I started going out for long walks, but those were an attempt to escape from starting another Netflix show. If I were in a middle of a season, walks would become dreadful. The longer the walks, the anxious I would get. The first thing I would do after the walk was, well yeah, you guessed that right.
What’s causing it?
The superb storyline, suspense, likeable characters? Oh, wait, sex scenes? No, not the sex scenes, that’s not possible. You have porn for that. I mean, all the factors combined together could cause addiction to binge-watching. But is that really the cause?
I wondered if there’s a connection between my current situation (staying alone) has to do with the binge-watching addiction. We do try to fill up a void by watching shows like F.R.I.E.N.D.S, don’t we? We love to escape to a world that is more desirable, it’s a welcome break. It makes us feel good, pleasurable. And, anything that gives our mind pleasure, we intend to repeat it. It’s the dopamine hit — instant gratification. The more we do it, the lesser dopamine our brain produces. So to derive the same pleasure, we want to watch more of it. To match the same level of dopamine, more consumption of content is required. Well, that’s science, but can we do something about the addiction?
What can we do about it?
If you watch an episode carefully, it runs at different wavelengths. It’s like an orchestra, sometimes it hits the high note and other times the lower one. But, it always ends on a high note. Sometimes, the entire episode runs on a high note (season finale).
Now imagine, you are watching Game of Thrones for the first time, and the episode ends with Jon Snow coming to life or Ned Stark getting executed. In which universe would you not be tempted to watch the next episode. The cliffhanger endings produce more curiosity because you are left on a high note. Now, that gap needs to be closed. So, you will click on the next episode, right? You can stop on a low note but you can never end it on a high note.
As the entire season is uploaded in one go, you don’t have to wait for another week. If you are watching a show that has already ended, then you have all the seasons at your disposal.
I observed that several times I have found myself skipping through some bits which I find boring or those which just don’t add up enough to the storyline. Those bits nothing but the low notes.
That’s where I realised that I need to stop the episode, the lower note. It’s bearable to do that than to watch till the cliffhanger ending, and not watch the next episode. It’s better not go till the cliffhanger and shut it down during the boring bits. Trust me, It has helped me from waking up all groggy. Now, I don’t find myself binge-watching episode after episode. Knowing when to stop is an important aspect of getting rid of any addiction.
Make the most out of it
If you are going to watch an episode anyway, why not make it more rewarding. Try to couple it with a good habit like reading or working out. It could be anything. Stacking a habit before watching your favourite show will also make it more rewarding. This will help you build a routine. You get to develop a good habit that increases your productivity. For instance, I have coupled the habit of writing an article before watching Netflix. Now, that’s a win-win situation to create out of an addiction, isn’t it?
Here’s an article I wrote that you might find interesting,
