Americans run on entertainment. TV shows, movies, video games, sporting events, music concerts, and social media (to name a few) make trillions of dollars a year in revenue and consume most of American citizens’ pastimes. Entertainment providers like Netflix, Sony, Microsoft, NBC, AMC, the NFL, the NBA, and countless other domains dominate the modern business industry. For a truly lucrative business calling, many entrepreneurs look no further than the glitz and glamour of the 21st century entertainment industry.
I’ll readily admit I’m well-invested in the entertainment industry. I watch football, basketball, and soccer on a regular basis. I had a PlayStation 4 gaming system; I regularly play video games with friends, and I watch Netflix almost once a day. I’ve spent a lot of time, money, and energy on entertainment (except for money on Netflix—thanks, mom). Until recently, I believed that entertainment wasn’t a problem in my life. I played my video games, I laughed at my favorite shows, and I watched professional athletes compete almost every day.
One day (after playing Call of Duty for 3 hours straight) I asked myself a question—how much time am I actually investing in different forms of entertainment? I’ll let you all get a sneak peek into my life with these stats.
Here’s the amount of time (on average) I spend on entertainment each day:
- 15 minutes of highlight videos from all my favorite sports teams, and up to 60 minutes if there’s an important game (such as a playoff or championship game)
- 60-80 minutes of Netflix
- 60-90 minutes of various types of video games (these include phone, system, and computer games)
- 20-30 minutes on YouTube
- 45 minutes on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, primarily).
All these minutes added together equal about 305 minutes, or just over 5 hours of every single day.
I’ll be the first to say this: that’s a ridiculous amount of time for anyone to spend on entertainment. The average work day is eight hours long; that’s only three hours more than the time I spend staring at glowing rectangles! Sometimes I watch Netflix when I do homework in order to keep me sane, but my work often suffers as a result. I’ll watch games with my friends under the notion that it’s quality time—but seriously, are we interacting or just watching the game? I’ve made plenty of excuses for my entertainment addiction, but after I sat down and calculated the amount of time I dedicate to entertaining myself I realized that I was too reliant on the entertainment industry.
Think about it: the average American watches approximately 4-5 hours of television a day. And that’s just TV! Think about all the time you spend on your phones, tablets, laptops, and gaming systems. These are sobering numbers. Studies also show that it takes the average adult 10,000 hours to master a skill. If that’s the case, the average American should be a master television-watcher within 10 years (if that was a skill). And again, that’s just TV. Imagine what you’d learn, how you’d grow as a person if you used that time to learn a new skill—like playing guitar, or crocheting, or playing basketball, or writing books and essays. You could become an incredibly skilled professional by sacrificing some of your entertainment time.
Just a few days ago, I sold all my PlayStation 4 games. I did this for one purpose: I realized that my entertainment addiction was controlling my life and sapping my potential as a productive human being. I know plenty of people who play video games and balance their social and academic lives along with their video games—kudos to you, but I couldn’t handle it. After years of denying the problem, ignoring its effects on my life, and wasting my hours staring at a glowing screen, I knew I’d had enough. That evening, I posted all my video games on auction sites and looked for potential buyers.
There was something liberating about handing all my video games over to a complete stranger in a beanie and biker leathers; no longer would I have to play through a story just to get to the resolution I craved. No longer would I need to repeat the same action over and over again to achieve a single desired result. No longer would I have to push off friends, social engagements, homework, projects, or invitations because of my own struggle with entertainment. Finally, for the first time in a long time, I was free to spend my free time in a more productive way.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with entertainment. Human beings need time to kick back, relax, and enjoy some good, old-fashioned fun. Rest is an essential part of daily life, and entertainment is often the medium by which people relax. However, we must practice everything in moderation. Relaxation, recharging, and refocusing are all good things, don’t get me wrong. However, when entertainment becomes the main event, we should stop and ask ourselves: what am I learning from this? How am I growing and developing as my own person? Am I gaining any useful talents and abilities from this?
Again, I understand the value that entertainment has in modern society. There are millions of people who make a living through entertainment—I applaud them! They create incredible artwork for the rest of us to enjoy, and most truly have remarkable skills. But for those of us who aren’t involved in the entertainment industry, remind yourself of why you watch and why you play. Our time on Earth is short, so we should make the best of it.
