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123 things to do that are better than watching TV

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iStock_000017663698MediumThis is the ultimate post-TV binge book. Whether it’s Christmas, Easter or just a pent up backlog of episodes of your favourite TV series, we all indulge too much from time to time.

So, get a fresh idea. Go for something different.

Your life might be long or it might be short. You’ll not know which, until that fateful, final moment. If you think that comment’s gloomy, just recall that the average adult in the UK spends 28 hours per week or 4 hours per day watching television. That adds up to five 24-hour days per month and sixty 24-hour days per year! This time is all spent passively absorbing dubious culture from many different sources, lying or sitting immobile for the most part – both physically and mentally.

Adults need to reclaim that time, recover their lives, do something active and set a trend that will be perpetuated by their children and beyond. This book isn’t a solution but it offers possibilities of where you might go in your search for activities to invigorate a life gone stale with telly-fodder.

The International Journal of Obesity study found the 41% who were overweight or obese by the age of 26 were those who had watched most TV. (University of Otago)

The gradual downward trend in children’s TV viewing has reversed, with children watching an average of 2.6 hours per day, up from 2.4 hours last year (ChildWise Research)

Almost all 5-16s have access to multi-channel TV, the majority at home : eight in ten 5-16s have their own TV and six in ten have their own DVD player (ChildWise Research)

Over 55s watch a lot of TV. They are likely to be watching 34 hours every week – that’s 8 hours more than average (26 hours). The older you are the more TV you consume. 65-75 year-olds watch the most TV – 36 hours per week. (BBC Programme Commissioning)

Scary facts keep coming:

  • The average U.S. child will spend more time in front of the television (1,023 hours) than in school (900).
  • The TV is on over seven hours a day in the average American home.
  • Forty nine percent of Americans say they watch too much TV.
  • The average child ages 2-17 spends over 19 hours a week watching television.
  • American children view 20,000 TV commercials a year.
  • Forty percent of Americans frequently or always watch television during dinner.
  • The average child will witness 200,000 violent acts on television by age 18.
  • The average child will witness 16,000 murders on television by age 18.

So …

Be more interesting than your TV.

Recover your lost time.

Live your live – actively. Not someone else’s – passively.

Buy in the USA
Buy in the UK
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Check out these screenshots from the book: