My usual New Year’s resolution to downsize and my recent frustrations with time management collided last week, and by their powers combined, turned my mind to a related topic. In this case, the consumption—or rather, overconsumption—of media.

A big reason I need to downsize is I have a bad habit of buying books on impulse, especially when they’re on sale. As it stands, I have several shelves full of books I haven’t read but intend to. I want read them so I can eliminate them from my collection since I doubt I’ll want to keep them all. Unfortunately, I’m a self-described “story junkie,” so I enjoy multiple forms of media, including video games, TV, and movies. The problem is I can’t keep up with all of it. For example, I’ve lamented several times that there are so many superhero shows on TV, I can’t watch all of them.

I hear friends talking about the video games they’ve played this year, and many of them I haven’t even touched. People rave about TV shows I’ve never even seen. On Goodreads, people make yearly goals for how many books they want to read, some going as high as 100 books (that blows my mind!). Meanwhile, I’m surrounded by screens bombarding me with images and ads about the latest movies and countless other things, many of which I want to experience, but I’m already buried. It’s to the point where I’m finding creative ways to allow myself to be able to listen to audiobooks of some of the books on my shelf despite my car’s sound system being problematic (I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get it fixed).

Should I even bother mentioning that I also enjoy listening to music and podcasts?

It’s no wonder many people nowadays seem to be hyperactive: their brains are constantly being stimulated. I’m reminded of the Grinch from Dr. Seuss’ classic book: “All the noise, noise, noise!” The human mind can only take so much. There comes a point where it gets overloaded. I can’t spend my entire day consuming media just to get some notches on my belt. Nobody can. It’s unhealthy. Even if I try to say I’m “socializing” by, say, watching a movie with family and/or friends, it’s not the same as focused attention on those people. It requires meaningful interaction and conversations to foster intimacy. I’m not saying it’s impossible to create that while consuming media (I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some great chats with friends while playing video games), but too often media is a distraction. And that’s just one way it can be a hindrance.

Another is that people consume it mindlessly without taking into consideration what they’re consuming. We all know people who just lounge on their recliner and flip through TV stations while complaining there’s “nothing on,” yet they don’t turn the TV off and do something else. I’ve never understood that.

What’s my point in all of this? It’s good, perhaps even necessary, to unplug. Shut off the noise and enjoy people. Take some time for yourself. Your brain needs opportunities to slow down. Yeah, maybe you won’t binge watch season two of Daredevil on Netflix as fast as others, but you may be a more well-rounded person because of it.

What are some ways you overconsume media? Have you cut back? What are some ways you could cut back?

Did you find this information helpful? If you did, consider donating.