Taking Advantage of Your TV Addiction (Part Two)

So you've stuck with me for another episode! Have I hit your favorite show yet? Have you identified with any of these productivity-harnessing strategies? Maybe you have a strategy of your own you could proscribe me as I slip further into the abyss that is Twin Peaks. Leave your own tricks & series recommendations in the comments below! And if you haven't already, check out Part One.

#6: THE HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

In its hey-day (and by hey-day I mean before their entire audience turned against them), the HIMYM premise was pretty compelling. At the end of the day, though, it's your basic sitcom -- i.e. nothing you can't totally multitask through three episodes of without missing major plot points. Thus, HIMYM time quickly became knitting practice time for me. What's your home-time hobby? Palmistry? Homebrew? Wedding Planning? Chances are you can do it with "Lets Go to the Mall" or Barney's 8 millionth bro code joke trilling through the background.

 

#7: THE CARRIE DIARIES

"Before there was sex... Before there was the city" -- Hold on, wait a second, Carrie Diaries, I have to pause you, cause I'm pretty sure I can create that fabulous 80s outfit from stuff currently hanging in my closet. Oh hey, look! My Madonna gloves!
Needless to say The Carrie Diaries typically coincides with closet cleaning & outfit planning time. Also needless to say -- I'm rarely able to watch an episode of this show in under two hours from all the pausing for inspirsession screenshots.

  

#8: THE HOUSE OF CARDS

I'm as hooked on House of Cards as anyone out there, but therewere moments in this show that were so slow and "talky" that I could answer three emails before any plot points took a major turn. The trick to this is having two screens so you're not tabbing over Netflix. Either watch on your laptop and answer emails on your phone or watch on the TV and answer emails on your laptop. Who's living in the 21st century now, you high tech wizard? Frank Underwood would respect your ingenuity.

#9: THE SHERLOCK

This one's a bit of a cheat. Sherlock already requires full brain power (about two brain's worth, as a matter of fact) just to keep up with its maverick main character. But if you haven't actively done so already, challenge yourself to solve the mystery before its revealed in the show. It's a great way to sharpen your senses, not to mention stay engaged through the feature-length journey that is this show. Stretch your brain and your body by incorporating some yoga poses into your viewing posture. An hour of stretching can work wonders on your muscles at the end of the day.

And lastly, the greatest trick of all:

#10: THE PARENTHOOD

Get someone else addicted. Go forth and strengthen your relationships by creating common ground with a coworker or telemarketer. ("Would you like to donate to -- " "Hold on, hold on, Habitat for Humanity; What's your stance on this Julia/Joel thing?") Or better yet, infect someone you actually like! Ideally your S.O., so you have someone to squeeze through the scary and snot on through the sad. Your parents are the next best thing. Because they are not wise to the wonders of free TV, you can rely on them to see you through full seasons of Parenthood before they're released on Netflix. Like anyone three seasons in, they won't want to wait to find out what happens to Christina Braverman. So, like the upstanding citizens they are, they will purchase the entire fifth season on Amazon. And you did that, you reprehensible progeny. You jump-started that addiction.
Golf clap for you.