I always seem to perceive life as a series of lessons and chances to improve. It’s not that I’m not happy with myself or grateful for what I have, because I am. But I also notice areas in which I need to grow and shift in order to be able to complete the work I was put here to do.
Normally, though, I don’t realize something needs to change until it becomes a big enough issue that either I recognize it’s holding me back or (this is more common) someone I care points it out to me. Lucky for me, my husband recently pointed out to me that I may have a slight addiction.
To Grey’s Anatomy.
For the next 40 days I’ll be working on shifting my Netflix habit so something more in line with my goals.
He’s not wrong, but I don’t think he saw the whole issue. I do love Grey’s Anatomy (I mean, it’s a great show, come on!) but I have a problem with streaming video in general. Specifically TV shows. Specifically, ones that have strong character development and dramatic storylines. This was not much of an issue when I was younger and tv shows only came out once a week, but it has become a huge drain to my time, energy and relationships now that Netflix is in my home and Hulu is on my phone.
This first came up when my husband and I got home from a date night and he went to change his shirt and I immediately plopped on the couch and started watching an episode of Grey’s. I didn’t even think about it. I’m not sure I made a conscious choice to do this. But I did.
Another day that week I had come home for lunch and turned on the T.V. and put on Netflix so that I could watch “just one episode” while I was eating lunch. By the time my husband got home, I had barely left the couch and was 5 episodes into a new season of one of my favorite shows. Episodes on Netflix are like Pringles: Once I pop I literally CANNOT seem to stop.
Habit shifting isn’t as hard as it seems. Right?
I banned myself from Grey’s Anatomy for the time being, but Monday, I thought I would try just one episode of Outlander which just arrived on Netflix. I am now nearly done with season one.
It appears that, where Netflix is concerned, I have no self-control.
I’m not really making conscious choices about what I want to do. This has entered the realm of habit.
It happens without me even having to think about it.
This afternoon I noticed the habit at work. My plan was to come home, eat lunch, and get some work done. As I was unlocking the door, though, my mind popped straight to Netflix and tried to tell me that it would be fine to watch just one episode of Outlander. Luckily I caught this thought and was able to start noticing my habit and my patterns.
So tomorrow (because tonight I will be finally watching the season 3 finale of Stranger Things) I am going to start working on kicking this habit.
If you have a habit you’re looking to kick, feel free to join in! I’ll take you through a different step each week until I’m sure the habit has been replaced. Let me know in comments what habit you’re hoping to shift!