Combating Entertainment content addiction by using Kindle
Taking advantage of the positive aspects that technology has to offer
Consuming entertainment content can be very addictive and enjoyable. An activity that can be pleasing to the eyes and makes us feel good but possesses temporary feelings.
Once you begin watching a TV show, smart designer developers have made it easier to continue watching rather than stop by adding features such as “next video starts automatically” or “auto-play next episode”
These features can be convenient for users but excessive consumption can have potential negative impacts affecting our cognitive function with the ability to think critically, problem solve, attention span and memory retention.
There are screen time limit tools available to manage entertainment consumption.
However, learning something educational from entertainment content is not common. They can be useful to wind down and relieve stress but it can be difficult to not get trapped in the endless cycle.
Therefore I attempted to utilize the kindle app to read rather than heading towards YouTube or social media. Learning from books using the kindle app can be extremely informative and educational to levelling yourself up, and improving your skill sets and qualities.
The main reasons why I began to start reading were to:
Learn a new piece of information every day:
- non-fiction books possess a wealth of knowledge of individuals who have experienced or lived an interesting life filled with insightful lessons.
- The information is organized in a book usually 200–300 pages which can be extremely beneficial to learn, By acting upon this information can usually put you ahead of the learning curve.
Improve my vocabulary:
- Reading different types of books ranging from historical to Sci-fi containing different words that you may have not seen before able to understand those words can allow you to improve your vocabulary.
- Ultimately beneficial when articulating yourself concisely and clearly by having a large resource of words to pick from when communicating.
Have a different perspective:
- Understanding different perspectives from individuals from diverse backgrounds can help you gain a better understanding of the choices they made, situations, cultures, lifestyles, and viewpoints.
It can feel extremely guilty wasting so much time watching tv, scrolling on social media or going on YouTube.
I have experienced this occasionally, when there is that burst of motivation to change, however, you usually resort back to your old ways.
But reading provides an outlet — that can benefit you both in the short and long term, which can act as a form of motivation.
Short term:
- Relaxation and stress relief: can keep your mind occupied away from events or situations at the moment in life
- Increased knowledge: Reading can expose you to ideas, perspectives and thoughts which could add to your prior knowledge. If reading was done for a long period, you would accumulate a large amount of knowledge.
However extremely important to be intentional while reading because you could endless books but not be engaged to learn anything. But rather have the accomplishment of reading a book.
Long-term:
- Improved literacy: It develops and improves your vocabulary and reading comprehension
- Mental stimulation: keeping the brain engaged and strengthening brainpower
Final Thoughts
Ultimately watching entertainment online moderately can be appropriate however you would be extremely susceptible to the traps of entertainment by desiring to watch more.
I prefer to not be in the position to experience being guilty repetitively of watching content online for hours and not learning anything. I feel that reading is an appropriate alternative to take advantage of that time and learn something that will provide me with some benefits in the short term and long term.
Finally, it can be easy to share common themes with other individuals such as asking did you see that video? however, it is important to become an individual who is interesting, well-rounded and has a personality. I think that reading books truly does provide that.
If you enjoyed the content and want to read some more. Have a look at other topics that I have written related to productivity or reading.
To read on kindle you can get Kindle Unlimited, which requires payment of a monthly subscription fee is £9.49. You will have access to over 1 Million eBooks including the Harry Potter books.
P.S the link I shared above is an affiliated link, so I do get a small kickback….
