Is binge-watching Netflix your favorite pastime? If so, it’s sure that your routine has all messed up. You must be dealing with sleep deprivation and laziness and are always late for the office. These are a few outcomes of binge-viewing Netflix.
Sometimes, on a beautiful rainy evening, there’s just nothing better than grabbing snacks and plowing through a season or two of one of the buzzing shows in your social circle. However, suppose at 3 a.m., you’re snapped out of an unconscious stupor and still not able to decide to continue watching Netflix or go to bed to get a few precious hours of sleep before having to get up for work. In that case, you come to the conclusion that you’re a Netflix addict. Then you wonder how to stop binge-watching Netflix and cut back on your non-stop viewing marathons?
Here are a few useful tips that you can apply right away. They’ll put you back on regular streaming service consumption and reset your routine.
1. Turn autoplay off on Netflix
Autoplay makes it easier to binge-watch. As you promise, you shut your device right after the episode ends, but the next episode starts with all the secrets having in it in the first few shots, and you change your plan. 10 minutes more. And 10 minutes more. And this streak continues until the sunlight shines through your window.
Turning off autoplay will help you assess how long you have been watching and remind you that you’ve to get up early to go to work.
Having to push the play button every time between episodes will keep you realizing that things are getting out of control, and you’re insanely binging. Therefore disabling the autoplay feature in the settings forces you to start manually and gives you a natural break between the episodes. You get the option each time to stop or continue.
2. Reward yourself with your favorite shows
Sometimes, the urge to binge-watch is too strong that you can’t help yourself. However, just use it as a reward system. For instance, “I won’t be viewing my favorite show until I complete my tasks at the office.” Or “after completing the chores, I’ll watch two episodes and then get back to work again.”
This will help you to enjoy your favorite shows without the sense of wasting time because you’ve earned this leisure after fulfilling responsibilities. When Netflix drops high-profile season, you know it’s not the time-sucker – you’ve waited patiently and met your targets to view it.
3. Watch your TV shows before the deadline
One of the most effective ways to stop binge-watching Netflix is to watch it before you’re supposed to do something, and it can’t be compromised. For instance, get up at 6 a.m., keep tabs on until 8 a.m., and get ready for the office to reach on time at 9 a.m. Now you can’t skip the office, so you have to stop it after watching it for two hours. No matter what’s going to happen next in the show, you can’t continue.
Although it’s hard to wake up at 6 a.m. however, it’s still better than viewing it all night and sleeping at 6. Hardly after a couple of hours, you’re at your work desk with grogginess this way.
4. Think of it logically
As per Netflix’s study, 61% of Americans binge-watch TV shows. To our surprise, most of them see no harm in it. The average binge-watcher spends 30 hours a week. Woah… It’s a part-time job, isn’t it?
Just imagine what the things that you can do in those 30 hours? You might like to write a book or do a part-time job. Or a side business that’s on hold for centuries… you can launch it and make a handsome amount to buy that dreamed car you’ve been working for quite long.
It’s only possible if you understand that binge-watching is soaking all of your productivity and precious hours, which can’t be retrieved later.
Okay. You might say I’m not a materialistic one who always wants to make money at the cost of his joy. Let me tell you, it’s shooting down your brain’s energy and making you prone to dopamine, too.
361,000 people watched all nine episodes of the second season of ‘Stranger Things’ on the first day it was released. On average, binge-watchers finish the entire series in just one week, and at times, in one go. Why can’t we get tired of viewing relentlessly? Because we enjoy every bit of it. Consequently, dopamine is excessively released by our brain, and we get addicted to it. The addiction is similar to a drug-like high. The consequences are trouble sleeping, digestion issues, feeling tired or unmotivated, etc. Plus, these consequences have further repercussions. For example, binge-watching strains your eyes, increases depression, and can even lead to premature death.
Whether you take productivity into count or health into consideration, binge-watching has major aftereffects.
5. Shun purge-watching
I was working on one of my major projects when the squid game was launched. People were discussing this season wherever I went, and I had to avoid those conversations just to save myself from spoilers.
Finally, I got a time and saw the first couple of episodes, and it didn’t look as impressive as the hype was building on. I quit.
But my social circle kept saying it was going to be interesting in subsequent episodes, and I had to watch it till the end. But my view didn’t change, even in the end, I didn’t feel that it was living on its popularity. I watched it because it was culturally relevant – not that I enjoyed it.
If a similar thing happens to you at any point in time, when the TV show wasn’t as impressive for you as other people think of it, and you watched it to have remained relevant in social conversations, you were purge-watching. Simply put, this type of binge-watching has come to be known as “purge-watching.”
You should avoid purge-watching because it’s making you a Netflix addict, and you’re not even enjoying it. Make sure you don’t have to watch it because it’s in your Netflix queue.
6. Block streaming services or cancel your subscriptions
You need courage for this. Install any blocker just like Cold Turkey and block streaming services for a specific duration. You’ve decided you’re going to watch it only for the next couple of hours and would want to take a day or two off; you can block your streaming services on your device. Now you can’t undo your action or even need to think ten times before doing that. This is where blocking software such as Cold Turkey comes into action.
Take a step further. Cancel your subscriptions for a month, resume them the next one, and then cancel for another month. Keep this cycle running, and you’ll ultimately stop binge-watching.
In the meantime, you must have replacements so that you’ll not regret on this later. Replacements can be listening to podcasts, hanging out with friends, working on side-business, or reading books.
7. Understand your desire for binge-watching Netflix
You should figure out why you are so addicted to Netflix. Following are four reasons that people binge-watch:
- Fear of missing out (FOMO)
- Boredom
- Escapism
- Entertainment
Figure out what’s creating desire in you to binge-view Netflix. Afterward, deal with that issue. For instance, if boredom is a problem, find a new hobby. For example, learn writing, painting, piano play, or singing. Anything you want to do, just replace binge-watching Netflix with that.
Keep in mind that replacement should be healthy and productive. Because if the replacement becomes an addiction, you would be in a similar position. Let’s assume you replace Netflix addiction with listening to music. If you get too used to it, that becomes another negative addiction. And if you replace it with book reading or learning a new language, then the replaced habit would be good.
Final thoughts
After finishing binge-viewing Netflix, many people suffer from situational depression. This means that their minds imagine different supposed endings or feel sad about the climax. So the time they’ve consumed while viewing season doesn’t only get wasted; even after that, many hours are also spent to come out of the hangover.
For those who have difficulty letting go of their Netflix addiction, it’s important to realize that the Internet is a source of a plethora of distractions. Whether you have a TV addiction or a Netflix addiction, streaming services are likely to be your new enemy. However, it’s important to stay focused and motivated to get rid of your binge-watching habits.
That being said, I’m not saying that watching Netflix is all too bad. Instead of that, it has a few positive impacts on our brain. However, the key is that you must have self-control. You shouldn’t be binge-watching because productivity and health are significantly impacted due to that. Watch it, but with self-control. You can simply follow the tips mentioned above, and you’re all set to stop Netflix addiction. If your problem persists and you feel like you need further assistance, consult with a tech addiction therapist. They’ll definitely help you to get rid of Netflix addiction.
