May 10, 2016

I Gave Up TV Streaming For A Month & Here’s What Happened – Refinery29

Here at Refinery29, we love personal and social challenges. Whether it’s wearing different lipsticks for 30 days or going a month without using credit and debit cards, we’re never afraid to try brand-new ways of simplifying our lives.

For me, it was a no-brainer what kind of 30-day challenge I needed. In all of my circles (other than the R29 entertainment team), I’m always the one who watches the most TV and is constantly pestering people to try brand-new shows. (I’m still trying to get my parents into Broadchurch, and my fiancé to complete the first season of Superstore — we’re working on it.) I stream TV shows in bed, at the gym, and sometimes for entire Saturdays at a time. I usually watch more than one episode of TV every single day.

So, it was only natural that giving up TV and movie-streaming services — Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and the Comcast Xfinity TV Go app (I use my fiancé’s login for that one) — would certainly be a worthwhile 30-day challenge for me. I agreed to do it.

The fine print? I was still allowed to watch TV live, as it aired. I don’t have actually cable, but I get public networks like ABC, so I could still watch shows like Scandal at their original air times. I could additionally still watch clips on YouTube.

When I first went over the assignment along with my editors, I wasn’t sure what to expect. would certainly I start reading more? See a ton of movies? Actually start having dinner along with other humans? Some of these things did happen — but the whole experience was definitely different than what I’d anticipated.

Ahead, here’s a breakdown of what I learned from my streaming-free month.

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