How do you unwind and relax without Netflix?

June 20, 2021 6:04 PM

Are you someone who does not have or minimally uses TV subscriptions? How do you unwind after long days if so?

I'm thinking of taking a break from TV subscriptions to try to reconnect with reality some more for a while. Maybe try a period without access to anything (well except Amazon by default I guess, since it is paid per-year), then try paying for access to a movie here, movie there etc.? Just try to cut down on the amount of binge watching.

Thing is, I'm not sure how to relax at that point in the day when I'm feeling brain-dead except for TV! I'm a little afraid I'll revert to mindless internet browsing instead, or playing games online. I like exercise and am hoping to reinvigorate my exercise routine a bit. I often find it hard to really get into a good book as I work full time and go to school so reading often feels like something else to tax my brain. I like people and hanging out with friends and also hope to spend more time being social (especially with COVID improving at least somewhat in the US), but I'm also an introvert who spends a fair amount of time alone. I live with roommates and we get along fine but aren't really friends per se. I do like audio books and podcasts but often spend a lot of time listening to them while running or hiking so have frequently kind of tapped out the list of things I'm interested in consuming there by the time I make it home and want to unwind.

Anyway, if you have any advice on ways to unwind that you have found truly reinvigorating or calming that don't involve TV, please send them along! Ideas for how to moderate viewing behavior also welcomed, as I don't know that this change will be a forever-change.

posted by knownfossils to Health & Fitness (26 answers total)

Read magazines instead of books.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:18 PM on June 20, 2021 [4 favorites]

Or comics
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:21 PM on June 20, 2021

“I often find it hard to really get into a good book”

Read bad books then! In other words, read what you currently consider beneath you: e.g. bestselling middlebrow fiction, genre, romance, thrillers, etc. And try audiobooks!
posted by caek at 6:24 PM on June 20, 2021 [35 favorites]

puzzles and listen to the radio
posted by bbqturtle at 6:26 PM on June 20, 2021 [11 favorites]

Drawing, solitaire with *real* cards (i.e. on the TABLE not on the computer), solo Bananagrams, sashiko sewing. Reading while listening to music. Enjoying a glass of wine while listening to music. Most of the above (minus the reading) while listening to a baseball game.
posted by chiefthe at 6:37 PM on June 20, 2021 [7 favorites]

Get a dog. Dogs need care, attention, training, walks...there's always something worthwhile to do when you have a dog to do it with.
posted by phunniemee at 6:37 PM on June 20, 2021 [6 favorites]

I foster animals which gives me a steady stream of mostly pleasant things to do that are rewarding.

I listen to podcasts rather than watch TV. I'm fairly non-visual to begin with and I tend to find them more interesting and engaging than most of what you'll find on the streaming services.
posted by Candleman at 6:40 PM on June 20, 2021 [10 favorites]

I’m generally not the right person to answer this but my general approach is you have to do something different than your regular day to wind down. So if you stare at a computer screen all day, try to get away from screens after work. Lots of reading during the day? Books may not hold interest.

Things that often come up for me: gardening, walks/runs, seeing friends, laying on the couch with my eyes closed just listening to music (more often podcasts), “making” hobbies (sewing, crafting, painting), cleaning, cooking,
posted by raccoon409 at 6:43 PM on June 20, 2021 [5 favorites]

The best I've found to stop watching TV is to stop watching TV. It sounds annoyingly simple, but it is what happened in our household.

It kinda happened by accident for us. We only subscribe to Amazon and we got through a couple seasons of shows and had to wait for the next to drop. We didn't find a new show to watch in the meantime. The next season wasn't so hot, so we didn't finish watching it. And now we maybe watch a move a couple times a month or so? This completely broke our regular TV watching habit, and we are going to try no TV for a while once we move to see how it goes.

I find TV horribly slow now and get bored. I prefer podcasts and reading. I do lose more time than I would like on my computer. I find it easier to close my laptop lid and walk away than to turn off the TV, though.
posted by chiefthe at 6:44 PM on June 20, 2021 [6 favorites]

Take up an instrument. Or learn to sew or knit. Or meditate or draw. Or bake a fancy dessert. Or plant a small garden. Or raise cute insects. Or make candles or perfumes. Or go on long walks, learn your neighborhood. Or fly a kite or learn to juggle. And write a short story, and play a video game, and learn bridge or chess online. Play darts or bocce ball or go bowling.

There are zillions of hobbies; I don't know what will work for you but I know what I wish I had more time for, maybe one will strike your fancy?
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:51 PM on June 20, 2021 [3 favorites]

Re: ideas for moderating viewing habits in the future, one rule I have kept from the digital detox I did a few years ago is to only watch TV with other people. This has made binge watching nearly non-existent, created some fun rituals with roommates and friends, and made me feel like my TV consumption is more fulfilling because I get to talk about it with my co-watchers. I think I’ve broken the rule three times in the past 3 years to watch something none of my friends wanted to watch, but it’s always been a deliberate choice.
posted by chaiyai at 7:03 PM on June 20, 2021 [7 favorites]

Puzzles and podcasts for me.

I also really like when people read to me. I live by myself, so for now, I get audiobooks AND read along on my kindle. I don’t have an audible subscription any more, and I’ve found a lot of books on YouTube.
posted by Juniper Toast at 7:12 PM on June 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Daily exercise is key for me to avoid the brain-deadedness you describe. I used to bike commute, but I work from home now, so I don't automatically get the 60-ish total mins of exercise I used to get every day just by going to and from the office. I've replaced that with, well, a couple things: when the weather's bad, I have an elliptical machine I'll spend 30 min on, and when the weather's nice, I'll either go for a walk or for a bike ride for an hour after I'm done working. Then, when I get home from that, it's time to make dinner, so the stereo goes on and the music starts.

I'm not anti-TV, but I'm very anti-just turning the TV on for noise, so my wife and I have switched to listening to music when we can't decide what to watch. It leads us to a more conversational place, as well, because we can talk to each other while we listen and cook/eat, rather than just staring at a screen.

So those would be my two tips: try to set aside 30-60 min a day for exercise if you can, and don't turn the TV on just to turn the TV on. Set daily time limits for yourself and watch specific things, don't just turn on the box and zone out.
posted by pdb at 7:28 PM on June 20, 2021 [3 favorites]

A cup of good tea and a good newspaper and I am a happy person.

When (if) I retire, the key mark of retirement will be that I get the newspapers delivered. At the moment, I only buy one when I have time at the end of the day. Once I am retired I will give myself the luxury of starting my day with a deep dive into the papers.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 7:42 PM on June 20, 2021 [6 favorites]

I also often put on concert videos in the background because I mostly care about music but it has visuals if I want to watch for a bit (but won't miss anything critical during the parts I don't see).
posted by Candleman at 9:19 PM on June 20, 2021

Once I stopped watching much TV (I still watch a lot of sports but lost the taste for fictional TV) I found I could suddenly get into as many books as I wanted, in basically all genres. Not sure why, because I wasn't trying to do that, but now I read a ton.

Key for me is to just keep reading an author once I find one I like—much easier (and more momentum-conserving) to read the next book from an author whose novel you enjoyed than try to find another author you'll also enjoy.
posted by Polycarp at 9:43 PM on June 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

I don't have any subscriptions but I still occasionally watch old TV shows but more commonly movies, in the form of DVDs borrowed from the library. I watch those on a Windows 7 laptop that's been disconnected from the internet since Microsoft stopped maintaining that OS.
posted by Rash at 10:05 PM on June 20, 2021

I play phone puzzles, and listen to podcasts or music.

Lately, I've been playing a lot of online chess.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:54 PM on June 20, 2021

5mg eddies.

I write handwritten letters to friends and family.

I like to cook and do the dishes to relax too.
posted by AugustWest at 11:55 PM on June 20, 2021

I am someone who barely watches TV/netflix/amazon. I find that TV doesn't really hold my interest (although I'm aware there are so many good programmes out there!) and I used to only watch films with my partner as something to do together. We are temporarily living apart, and I've watched 1 movie and 4 episodes of a TV programme in the last 10 weeks.

Not to dismiss your concern about your own habits, but the reason I don't watch TV is that I tend not to be able to get absorbed - so if you do, and you enjoy it, please don't beat yourself up about it too much. However, I appreciate that wasn't your question!

For me, reading is my main 'hobby'. I love reading, and it definitely holds my attention more than TV. I'd totally agree with the poster above who says to read trash if you want to. There's some good recommendations in askme of thrillers, page turners, fun stories, and when I say I read a lot, it's not at all high-brow! I also read A LOT of short stories - old murder mystery collections, ghost stories, horror etc. If you can get some from the library or ebooks from the library, then you can maybe try some out without spending too much money. Although I read a lot, I still get distracted by my phone/twitter etc. and what has worked are simple things like putting my phone in another room and committing to reading for 10 minutes (then I usually keep going) and 'allowing' myself mindless browsing time on phone or computer. To be fair, I probably spend a fair amount of time just looking on the internet (i.e. compared to my partner who watches much more TV but only goes online for work or the news). I also spend time reading reviews and noting which books I would like to read next. I used to have a pretty bad second-hand book buying habit which I have curtailed (for space reasons) but I can scratch some of that itch by keeping note of what I've read and what I want to read.

As above though, I do feel like that is more part of my 'nature' to prefer to read, but I'm sure it's like any other habit and possible to build up a reading habit if you want to...

I also enjoy playing video games, and that might be an alternative - I try to do that hooked up to a bigger TV rather than on a laptop in the same space I work but appreciate that may not be possible. At the moment, I'm not super absorbed in a particular game, so not finding it too hard to limit screen time. Something that really engages your brain (like Portal and Portal 2) can be more engaging although harder at first.

Lots of good suggestions on exercise in other answers.

Hopefully the above is helpful as another data point for someone who doesn't watch much TV. TLDR - if you can find some fun books that hold your interest, I'd suggest trying that, and working up the time you spend reading without phone distraction. Memail me if you would like any recent book suggestions!
posted by sedimentary_deer at 12:34 AM on June 21, 2021

Taking walks in the evening can work well.
posted by bdc34 at 6:03 AM on June 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

Paint By Number - Here's an easier one to start with. Pick one that is appealing to you in subject and color. I like to start with the framed canvases (versus the linen fabric that will need to be framed). Buy a set of small better paintbrushes as well.

For books, start reading the book when you have more mental energy and then the story is easier to pick up when you are ready to unwind.

These puzzles are a joy. There are three of them from this company. I think they might sell them at Target too.

Do you like to travel? Vacation research can be fun if you like to do that. The Tripadvisor forums are a good place to start.
posted by RoadScholar at 9:19 AM on June 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

What about Lego?
posted by peppermintfreddo at 3:07 PM on June 21, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm a little afraid I'll revert to mindless internet browsing instead, or playing games online.

Isn't that okay though? I'm not a TV watcher particularly, I have a Netflix subscription that I barely use. My wind down basically starts after dinner, so I'll tidy up a little and do some "internet time" stuff. Sometimes I work on Wikipedia articles, sometimes I will post to my blog or read other people's blogs. I am in an LDR so I will zoom chat with my partner, maybe play an online game (Scrabble or something at Board Game Arena). After we say goodnight I head to bed, start taking my evening medicines and then usually unwind by peeking at social media for a little bit and then read a book until I actually head to sleep. Usually my nighttime books are lighter reading, genre fiction, graphic novels or other compelling reads. Daytime reading is more like non-fiction or harder reads because i'm more awake.
posted by jessamyn at 3:12 PM on June 21, 2021

I'm big on coloring. I use everything from crayons to markers to pencils and pens. I have some kid coloring books and some of the adult coloring books. I especially enjoy the stained glass coloring books where you can hang them on your windows like sun catchers.

I have a couple photo editing apps on my phone and I like to play with those.

Start a blog?

Cook or bake?

Learn an instrument or sing
posted by kathrynm at 4:34 PM on June 21, 2021

Listen to music with headphones - I would tend to prefer my own stuff over streaming, because I can choose an album or playlist that seems like the right thing for my mood at the time. Just sit and chill and enjoy the music
posted by TimHare at 10:10 AM on June 30, 2021