If you read the post Lifehack to downgrade your life fast (NO TV) or you took the NO TV Challenge you may be wondering what to do with your TV time.

I beg you, don’t swap one mindless distraction for another.

Be mindful about what you do with your NO TV time!!!

If you are following the instructions in the NO TV Challenge, you are asked to replace your TV Time with a mindful focus.

For me, the focus became simplifying my life, but quite honestly I fell into that. It wasn’t a mindful decision.

At the time I really had no idea the wheels I had set in motion and the significant change it would make in my life!

So I can totally understand if you are wondering where to start.

What would make a good mindful focus?

Since realizing what I had stumbled on it has been more than a decade. I’ve changed my mindful focus many times. Sometimes it is a big focus area and sometimes it is minor.

I have come to categorize my choices into these five (5) areas:

• • Reflection Time – doing something that gives me the space to have thoughts and the opportunity to be alone with them, ponder them, and sit with them for awhile.
  • Improve Health & Well Being – doing something that will be beneficial to my health and wellbeing.
  • Improve Finances – any action that boosts my savings, reduces my expenses, or increases my income.
  • Improve Day-to-Day Life – taking steps to add ease and flow to my day and make it just a little bit happier!
  • Improve Mental Health – social, self-care, and creative focus are all good for mental health and wellbeing.

Naturally there is often overlap.

Packing my lunchbox the night before (when I would probably have been watching TV) makes my mornings easier and ticks off the “improve day-to-day life” box.

Having a yummy lunch already to eat also means I am less likely to eat out and splurge on junk food so I also hit the “improve health” and “improve finances” tick box.

It’s a win-win-win. I love those!

Here’s a list of activities that I have used to mindfully fill the void left by TV.

1. Go for a walk in your neighborhood (Improve Health, Reflection Time)

Movement matters to your health so take a walk.

I walk without earbuds and instead listen to nature or the bustle of the environment around me.

Walking is great exercise and it gives me time alone with my thoughts.

2. Go out for ice cream (Improve Mental Health)

How is this a meaningful activity? Read on.

This is a great activity to replace TV when you have young children. It provides everyone with purposeful time together.

I liked to take my kids to the local dairy bar. It’s only open in summer, so it was a real seasonal treat for us.

Please don’t just order your cones and hop back in the car. Sit on down at one of those sticky picnic tables with wasps buzzing around. Not only does this save the upholstery in your car, it gives you a chance to connect with your kiddos.

Talk about anything or be silly. These are days you don’t get back and you will enjoy the memoires later. Trust me.

3. Read a book (Improve Mental Health)

For many years, it felt like I didn’t have time to read. Magazines became my go-to with the shorter and faster to digest stories.

Then I started following blogs and that became my “reading” time.

Recently, I have found that after consuming so many snippets of information on social media it has become difficult to actually sit down and read a book just for pleasure.

This is not a good sign about what is going on in my mind that I can’t focus long enough to read.

I am mindfully using some of my time to start reading again.

4. Board games (Improve Mental Health)

This is another great mindful distraction if you have a young family and you are now faced with filling up their time as well as your own.

It is one-on-one time with people you care about.

With no real expense related to this activity you can let your kids invite friends, cousins, or their favorite uncle over for a game night.

It can become something everyone looks forward to.

5. Puzzles (Reflection Time)

A great solo task that leaves plenty of time with your thoughts, yet you feel like you are accomplishing something at the same time.

6. Meal planning (Improve Day-to-Day Life)

Do you get that daily dread feeling at the end of your day when you know it is time to figure out what to feed your family?

Spending your TV time looking for new recipes, figuring out which nights you will be desperate for a quick meal, planning your menus and making a shopping list is a fantastic way to may your day-to-day easier.

Once you have you list together spend an evening through the week to get your groceries and avoid the weekend crush. Yes please!

7. Pack a grown up lunch box (Improve Day-to-Day life, Improve Health, Improve Finances)

I am definitely going to do a post on grown up lunch boxes, so watch for that! In short, it is making your lunch the night before with more mature food selections than what the kiddos are throwing in their lunch boxes.

The trick is I bought a great bento box style lunch box. The fun is in the filling of each little compartment.

When you take your TV time to prep your lunch you end up with much more interesting lunches than a tuna sandwich or PB&J, and you day-to-day life is much easier.

A charcuterie style lunch with crackers, cheese, meats, nuts, veggies, and fruit is a favorite of mine that takes a little longer to prepare.

I’ll also make amped up salads that I wouldn’t have the time to prepare in the morning with features like boiled eggs, homemade guac, or marinated shrimp.

I wake up in the morning looking forward to my lunch break. The boujee meal I have waiting for me is something I look forward to in my day.

As a bonus you also eat better and waste less money on eating out.

8. Plan your outfits (Improve Day-to-Day Life, Improve Mental Health)

Taking your TV time to hang out in your closet and prep yourself for the next day will improve the quality of your life on many fronts.

No more realizing that what you wanted to wear isn’t clean and scrambling to find something else.

I find I tend to stay up on my laundry. While I’m in the closet I’ll notice that white socks are getting low or there is a big pile of darks in the hamper. Might as well toss those in and get them going!

I check the weather for the next day so I also know whether I need to set out my umbrella, a warmer coat, or snow boots. Less time scrambling in the morning to find what I need.

Believe it or not, I sleep better when I know there won’t be any hassle in the morning finding something to wear.

This was an unexpected bonus that I hadn’t anticipated. I didn’t realize that I woke up and almost immediately started thinking about what was going on at work that day so I could dress appropriately.

Once my mind went to work mode, it was hard to bring it back. Now I find I don’t need to switch to work mode until I’m ready to leave the house for work!

9. Work on a capsule wardrobe (Improve Finances, Improve Day-to-Day Life)

To take planning your outfits to the next level, spend your TV time building a capsule wardrobe.

It takes time to sort through what you already own, decide what matches what, and what makes the most sense to keep.

You need to think through your activities and what you will wear to each type of event from your reduced wardrobe.

You might want to invest some time shopping for some new essentials that will make your capsule wardrobe work better.

Once I moved to a capsule wardrobe it really wasn’t necessary to pick out clothes the night before (although I often still do).

The whole process is simplified. Everything matches everything else. With less options, it is easier to decide what to wear.

All the clothes in your closet make you happy so you rarely have the “I don’t feel like wearing this today” feeling that I often felt before I made my capsule wardrobe.

10. Go Fly a Kite (Improve Health, Improve Mental Health)

This may seem a little out there but it makes sense to find activities that get you outside and moving. I loved kites as a kid, so I bought one as an adult.

It is fun, and it is a great distraction on a windy day when it might feel too blowy to do other outside activities.

Even if you are lucky enough to have a lawn or field without trees and wires, it is great fun to grab the kiddos, throw the kite in the trunk and head out to find a spot to fly it.

It’s a low cost adventure and family bonding time.

If a kite isn’t your thing think about other fun props from your youth. Skateboard? Pogo stick? Skipping rope? Anything that gets you outside and moving.

11. Journal (Reflection Time, Improve Mental Health)

There are so many ways that you can use journals. They can:

• Be a creative outlet (art journal).
• Help you work through difficult issues (daily diary).
• Direct you to your passions and purpose in life (discovery journal/vision journal).
• Help you organize your life (bullet journal).
• Capture your memories (travel journal/smash journal).
• Be a useful part of a hobby (gardening journal/books I have read/bird watching)

By giving a little thought to the type of journal you would like to create and spending a little time each day working on them, you can open up a whole new world. One you will never find in front of the TV!

12. Vision board (Reflection Time)

If you have never made a vision board you are missing out.

They are cheap and easy to do.

A vision board is a poster board to which you add pictures, magazine clippings, words and quotes that visually affirm your goals and dreams.

They work (in my opinion) because “where focus goes, energy flows”.

Tony Robbins gets the credit for that quote and he’s right. The things you focus on in life have an amazing way of developing right before your eyes.

Creating a vision board is a worthy pursuit to replace your TV time with.

13. Start a Blog (Improve Mental Health, Improve Finances)

My screen time these days isn’t spent in front of a TV. Instead I’m at my computer screen, working on my blog.

Blogging is a fun and creative pastime.

In a former life, I got a computer science degree. My work these days is running a nursing home; about as far away from computer science as you can get!

Working on my blog brings some of the techy stuff back into my life, which I enjoy.

It is also a pastime that makes many bloggers money.

Professionally, I’ve trained adults on computer and accounting software and personally I’ve been a consultant that led crafting sessions. I really enjoyed both.

The idea of offering online courses intrigues me . I will definitely look into it in the future.

14. Call a friend just to chat (Improve Mental Health)

I have a best friend that has moved far away. Every now and then we will plan a good old fashioned phone call.

We set the date and time ahead of time and we both get a bottle of wine.

At the appointed hour the wine is poured and the phone rings.

We reconnect, catch up, and drink wine.

This makes me realize that we haven’t had a call in while. I will have to reach out and organize one!

15. Make some all occasions cards to have on hand (Improve Mental Health)

A great creative outlet is making up some cards.

It is relaxing, fun, and a great way to use up scraps and leftover product from other craft projects.

Done alone, you have some reflection time while working away.

Alternatively, you can invite your crafty girlfriends to join you and enjoy some social time.

It also means you always have a wonderful home made card on hand when you need one.

Instead of running to the store (and groaning over the $8 price tag) the next time you remember a birthday or just want to cheer up a friend, you can go to your stash!

16. Take a class (Improve Mental Health)

There are an endless amount of extended learning classes you can choose from. Cooking, languages, dancing!

I chose a class on creating a water color journal being offered through the local university. The class went so far beyond my expectations.

We started out the first week in the classroom, but every week after that we met at a different location to learn how to use water color paints in a small travel journal “on location”.

We visited the Student Union building on the university, a local pub, a garden nursery with beautiful greenhouses, and more!

The class was on Saturday mornings, but during the evenings in between classes I would practice.

Mixing colors, painting people, and learning to line sketch filled in evenings that I might have spent in front of the TV.

17. Pick a New Hobby to Learn Online (Improve Mental Health)

The short water color journal class I took gave me a taste of painting with water colors and I wanted to learn more.

Hello YouTube!

You can learn almost anything online these days and for free. I’ve watched dozens of video to learn new techniques and get inspiration from.

I may still be in front of a screen, but the creative outlet is a wonderful break from the stress of my day job. The challenge of learning something new is fun for me and beats mindlessly watching TV every day of the week.

18. Yoga (Improve Health & Wellbeing)

I’d always wanted to learn yoga, but where was I going to fit time for that into my day?

Yoga sessions at a studio normally run between a half hour to an hour and you have to factor in the getting to & from class.

Your TV time can easily be replaced by a visit to the yoga studio.

If you already know what you’re doing, yoga is easy to do at home. With minimal equipment (usually just a mat) and a small amount of floor space you are set to begin.

A great way to stay fit and fill in your TV time!

19. Meditate (Improve Health & Wellbeing)

Much like yoga it is one of those things you may have thought about doing, but had difficulty imagining when you would fit it into your schedule.

It is the perfect TV replacement.

Since the TV is off things are quiet and you have the time.

Many of us watch TV in the evenings when our energy is low. It takes very little energy to sit quietly and meditate.

Give it a go!

20. Geek Out (Improve Mental Health)

I love to spend what might have been TV time researching something that interests me.

It might be ordering up books online from the library, reading those books, watching a documentary, reading blogs or white papers. It could be anything.

I can get lost for hours learning about new things.

This is yet another example, where one screen (TV) is often replaced for another (computer) but the purpose and outcome is so vastly different.

TV is quite mindless and unless you have really chosen wisely, you probably aren’t learning a whole lot.

I tend to just stay put and watch the next show (no matter what it is) when the program I had selected is over.

Depending on the research topic there may be related health or mental health benefits, or sometimes day-to-day life improvements.

21. Work in your garden (Improve Health & Wellbeing, Improve Mental Health, Improve Your Finances)

Last summer Sweetie and I rented a lot in a community garden and planted some veggies.

In the beginning Sweetie did most of the work, but I gradually got drawn in.

I’d go with him to weed and water. We made the best friendships chatting with the other gardeners and getting their tips and tricks on how to improve our crop.

Later in the summer things really got exciting as we would go to the garden almost every night to see what had ripened and needed to be picked.

I also learned a little about canning, freezing, and making homemade salsa. The money we’ve saved on salsa alone more than paid for the garden!

All in all it was a wonderful experience that I hope we can repeat this year on our own land, since we have now moved away from our little community garden spot!

A great summer filler for your TV time.

22. Start a compost pile (Reflection Time, Improve You Health, Improve Your Finances)

This is one of those interests that I researched (see Geek Out above) and now I’m putting that research into action.

Working on my compost pile gets me out in the fresh air and moving.

It’s pretty easy work so it leaves lots of time for reflection.

If I get it right and end up with earth for our gardens it will save us money on soil.

This is something I probably would never have done if I’d kept my habit of staying planted in front of the TV.

23. Help Out a Neighbor On a Regular Basis (Improve Your Day-to-Day Life)

I feed cats.

In our small rural village it’s pretty common for people to take work in the Western part of the country on a rotational basis. Our closest neighbor travels back and forth in just such a work arrangement.

During the times he is away, I feed his cats and keep their litter cleaned out.

It’s nice to be able to do something for others. And since I don’t sit in front of the TV all evening anymore, when he asked me about doing it I felt like I had lots of time available to help him out.

You might not have a neighbor with a cat, but I’m betting there is a senior couple who would be very happy to have you cut their lawn or shovel snow from their walkway.

“We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another.” Henry J. M. Nouwen

24. Go on a date with your Sweetie (Improve Mental Health)

Now that the TV has been switched off, are you sitting around looking at one another?

Capitalize on this time to catch a comedy show, visit a museum, or hit trivia night at the local pub.

This is valuable time you could be spending together.

So what if it’s a work night. Go out anyway!

25. Self-Care (Improve Mental Health)

Book an appointment for a hair cut (you know you have to do this anyway). Pick a quiet evening when you won’t be rushing and can enjoy the session.

Not time for a cut?

Get your nails done, have a massage, or try a cool spa service that you’ve never had before because you never had the time.

Enough said.

The length of this post is getting a little out of control and this is just a list of things that I have done with my NO TV time. Who knows what you might add to the list that relates to your own interests or lifestyle.

Have fun mindfully filling up your NO TV time!