WikiHow, I like to watch television, but I wouldn't call myself addicted. I will flick through the channels at times looking for something to watch (I use the word watch, but really I look at other stuff most of the time when I have the television on). If there isn't anything on, I turn the television off and listen to music, or just have silence, like now.
When there is a show on I really like, I schedule things so I can sit down with some snacks or a meal and concentrate on the show. The rest of the time it is on, I am usually on my computer and the television is background noise, or I am doing chores or working on a project/hobby. When I had cable televsion with a channel guide to the shows, that used to be what was on most of the time, followed by cable news, documentaries and the weather channel.
If I actually sat in front of the television and watched it for any length of time I would probably consider myself bored or depressed. Television just doesn't occupy my mind enough to be a regular activity, and I get very antsy when I'm at someone else's house and the television is on. There isn't enough to occupy my mind unless I'm having a conversation or am really into the show (which I have found that most of my friends and I do not have the same taste in television).
I also have a fairly strong value system, and most stuff ranks above television as far as spending my time. If someone visits me, the television is turned off unless it is one of those particular shows I really like and the person plans on watching it with me. If I have something I'm doing that requires the ability to hear (like listening to music, or playing an instrument) the television gets turned off.
If someone wants to quit watching so much television, they just need to find something more fun or interesting to do. For me this is a lot of things. When you find yourself flipping through channels and nothing on is interesting, it is time to just turn the set off and read a book, go outside, clean the house, do something, anything else but sit there bored. Go fishing, walking, ride around aimlessly, anything that interests you.
I have a lot of friends that like to watch television, so much so that when I or someone else visits, the television stays on. The ones with a DVR are the least boring because they can change the show to please me, or watch their show later when I'm gone. This is not my idea of socializing normally, though, to watch a television show or movie. Live people are always more interesting than a television show, and getting out of the house and visiting people is a good way to escape the television. The friends that flip through channels while I am there are the ones I worry about. These are the ones that have very little in their life that is going on, and have no hobbies or interests.
I guess that some people are like that. They have no hobbies, no real interests or avocations. Everybody is different and I can't say this is bad or wrong, but it is not how I would want to be. When I do behave like that, I consider myself depressed and take measures to get re-involved in the world and life in general.
jkgrandma's last paragraph is worth rereading. There is too much going on in life to waste time in front of television being bored, and if this is the case, something else is possibly wrong with the person doing it beyond boredom. It's one thing to come home from work tired and plop down in front of the television to relax and have a few laughs or get caught up in some drama, quite another when you use it to fill up all your time and can't let it be turned off.
