What could we be doing besides watching TV/ Using the comput

rori20

Hi everyone. Weighing on my mind more and more lately is how little activity I've been engaging in since I let my depression take over a few years ago. I've always been inclined to sit around and do nothing, but lately I find myself glued to some backlit contraption or another (yes, I see the irony in posting about this on the internet).

Anyway, I thought it would be inspiring to ourselves and others to create a list of all the things we can think of that we could be doing instead of sitting on our (in my case ever-growing) behinds.

Off the top of my head:

Write a review/article

Clean the house (or a spot therein that needs it)

Finish a project around the house

Sit outside and sip some tea while the cats play

Have sex

Care for the plants

Call a friend I haven't talked to in a long time

Start/finish a classic novel

Take a bike ride

Go to the beach

Go to the farmer's market

Scrapbook

Meet my friend and sculpt some clay

Go to the gym

Take a friend out to eat

Babysit for someone

Send out a package/letter

Enroll in a class. Any class.

Do some rarely-done hygeien: i.e. take care of unwanted hairs, scrub rough spots, other embarrasing things...

Learn a language

Mail a letter/package

Strike up a conversation with a stranger

Help someone

Take a road trip, no matter how short or long, either alone or with company.

BerryH

Having suffered from depression, I know how easy it is to slip into a routine of sitting in front of the monitor or TV all evening. Great suggestions there. I'd add a couple of things that involve interacting with other people as that always helps.

Pick up the phone and call a friend. Arrange to meet of just chat.
Go to the library and ask a librarian for a recommendation you wouldn't normally try.
Walk somewhere you'd normally drive, even if it's just the supermarket to pick up some healthy food.

Robadobasaurus

Hey it's not always bad to watch the TV, relaxation is important if you're working hard. A really good thing to do is take a leaf from Bruce Lee's book, he was crazy about his strength training but loved watched films, so he would work on his abs whilst watching movies. It's something everyone can do at home and takes your mind off the exercise too.

Try doing sit-ups, crunches, the sphinx, supermans, and stretches in front of the next film you're watching.

unsuspectingfish

I exercise and work on strength training while watching TV. On typical work days, I don't really have the option of doing a lot of that other stuff because of my work schedule. I have been trying to write more, lately, though (I'm working on a "novel", which is still very much a work in progress). I've also been trying to get out of the house more on my days off. Of course, I currently spend about two hours of that time out of the house watching movies, but the rest is spent running around town, hitting up the farmer's market, etc.

Whatnow50

I was searching boards for TV addiction... this seems to be the closest I could find.
I too suffer from depression and can totally sit and watch TV and be on the computer at the same time for hours, if not days.
You’ve got a good list of other activities going but…
There's plenty of stuff around me that could use my attention but I find ignoring it day after day doesn't seem to come with any immediate negative consequences so…
I justify that TV is educational, that when not I deserve entertainment.
If I still make it to the gym each day then it must be ok to just sit and watch TV the rest of the time.
I realize this is not healthy thinking but isn’t that depression in itself.
Without the hassle and cost of finding a therapist in this little town how can I conquer this and start to change my habits and life?

Anyone relate?

And FYI- I won’t medicate so that’s not an option for me either.

Whatnow50

bump

knittnponder

I've been taking a break from the computer every five minutes to practice my new Taekwondo form. It's just long enough to allow my brain to cool down from trying to remember all those new moves but not long enough that I forget what they are!