The Great Time Wasters

For as much as I procrastinate (and I do--just look how long it took between blog posts this time), I tend to be a very productive person. People often tell me they are amazed at how much I do, how many activities I am involved in, and how much I get done. From my perspective, it doesn't seem like that at all because I am painfully aware how much time I waste. But the question isn't: How do I do so much? The real question is: Why is everyone else so much less active?

The reasons probably won't come as a surprise: Television and the Internet.

Think about it. The same people who claim they don't have time for volunteer activities, sports, or any number of other outside interests, have no trouble at all telling you what happened on the last three episodes of The Bachelor (or whatever show happens to be most popular at the moment).

The fact that people waste time watching television and surfing the Internet isn't as shocking as the statistics that back it up.

According to A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American spends more than four hours per day watching television. That seems like a lot--and it is--but the numbers really get staggering when you project them on a weekly, monthly, yearly, and lifetime basis.

• Per Week: 1.2 days
• Per Month: 5.1 days
• Per Year: 2 months
• Per Lifetime: 12 years (based on the person living to age 72)

But what about the Internet?

According to Cox Communications, children between 8 -12 years of age spend an average of 2 hours per day surfing the Internet. This figure matches similar research done a few years back by Salary.com in which employees reported spending an average of 2 hours per day surfing the Internet at work. That is the equivalent of 2-1/2 days per month or 1 month per year of continuous surfing.

What a colossal waste of time!

I personally can't imagine spending 12 YEARS of my life mesmerized by the television or 6 YEARS surfing the web, but that is exactly what the average person does.

I haven't seen research that specifically says the figures for television viewing and web surfing are cumulative, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were. In other words, a significant percentage of the population is probably spending 4 hours per day watching television and ANOTHER 2 hours per day surfing the Internet.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about this because it's a horrifying thought.

Viewing statistics like this, I am reminded how grateful I am to my parents for taking our television away when I was 10 years old. You read that correctly. For most of my formative years, we did not have a television in the house. At the time, I wasn't happy about it at all, but in hindsight it was the single best gift my parents ever gave my five siblings and me. So what did I do instead? I read books. I joined a hockey team. I played baseball and football with friends. In other words, I got involved with what life has to offer.

Continuing the tradition, television does not play a major role in my life. When people come to visit, we don't plop down in front of the television. We talk and enjoy the time we have together. That's why family parties at my house are always a lot more fun than they are than when we get together somewhere else. While other families are watching sitcoms, we are making memories.

I challenge you to do the same. If not for yourself, for your children.

I leave you with the two most important questions:

• What would you do with an extra 6-18 years of productivity?
• What are you waiting for?