I held on to my TV for a long time. For a while I watched it for entertainment, news, and sports. Over time I gave up wanting it for entertainment and news, though having it around made it easy to use it for that. It was easy to lose thirty minutes to a few hours without thinking about it.

I never seriously considered getting rid of the TV because it was so easy, when bored or tired at the end of the day, to use it to relax. Plus people talk about TV so much, I didn’t want to miss out on conversations. The joke is Q: “How can you tell if someone doesn’t have a TV?” A: “They tell you.”, but I find people with TVs tell you about having them much more.

I got rid of my old TV when I renovated my apartment and didn’t put much effort into replacing it. I forced myself to figure out what to do with my time and attention. I didn’t just sit around doing nothing.

Now I have better things to do than watch TV. I love what I’m doing so much that a TV would distract. Not having the TV helped create this situation. I happen to have one that my friends gave me when they got a bigger one. I’ve never plugged it in. It’s gathering dust in the corner.

I don’t have time for it because I have better things to do. I had to get rid of it first to make that happen. I don’t think I could have gone the other way—to find better things than watch it—while it was still there.

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