In our latest installment of Five Things We Can Learn From Everyday Objects we are going to look at something that has changed the way we watch TV.
Remember the days of recording a TV show onto a video cassette? You had to find a blank tape, make sure the tracking was right & program the VCR on the same day your show aired. It felt like it required a Master’s degree just to make it work right.
Those days are long gone, thanks to the DVR. With just a couple of pushes of a button, you can now record an entire year’s worth of television. The DVR has made our lives simple, but there is also a few more things we can learn from such an innovative device.
Five Things We Can Learn From Our DVR
1. If It’s Important, Save It
Typically I will watch something and immediately delete it from the DVR, but every now and then something is so memorable that I will save it. My brother and I recorded the Leap Year episode of 30 Rock and kept it for over 2 years. The episode was great and we knew we would want to watch it over and over again.
If something in your life is important, save it. Write it down, take a picture, record it. Anything you need so that you can relive it.
2. Order Your Priorities
My DVR is nice because it allows me to record 2 shows at once. But what about the times when there are 3 shows I want to watch at 7pm on Thursday night?? Now I have to make a choice. Something will be left off the schedule.
The world is filled with thousands of things competing for your attention. You don’t have time (or energy or resources) to do them all. What will take priority in your life?
3. Set Parameters
As I just mentioned, my DVR let’s me record 2 shows at once. But it also let’s me set parameters for recording each individual show. I can set it to record only new episodes, delete episodes after a certain length of time, or start/stop at any given time. This flexibility/planning let’s you really control your TV viewing schedule.
In life it is also important to set parameters. Sometimes this takes planning. Maybe you know you are meeting friends for happy hour on Tuesday, but you have a presentation to give on Wednesday. In that case it would be best to schedule yourself to have happy hour to end early. Another time you might want to schedule you day to start 1 hour early so you can get in a little extra time at the gym. This flexibility/planning let’s you really control your life’s schedule.
4. Big Lists Are Harder To Tackle Than Small Ones
I record the show Shark Tank. It is a show that I enjoy watching, but it is an hour long and I don’t always have time to sit and watch an hour of TV. I started getting behind on watching Shark Tank and the shows began piling up. Before I knew it I was nearly 50 episodes behind. I now had 50 hours to make up. How was I going to catch up? That is a daunting task.
One the flip side, I have other shows that I am only 1 or 2 episodes behind. Catching up on those doesn’t seem nearly as hard. The same idea applies to our tasks at work or in our personal life. A huge list of to-do items can seem overwhelming. Keep your to-do list small and it won’t seem so daunting.
5. If Is Important To You, You’ll Do It Immediately
One of my favorite shows is Community. I don’t always watch it immediately but I rarely fall an episode or two behind. I never let it build up to 50 episodes like I did Shark Tank. This proves that the show has greater importance to my TV schedule.
What has great importance in your life? Very likely, the things we really value in life, we will take care of immediately.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
