Mindful Consumption: Balancing entertainment choices for thriving living

Photo by Rob Hampson on Unsplash

Think about how you feel after spending hours scrolling on your screen. Does it leave you feeling energized and inspired, or do you find yourself drained and unproductive that somehow makes you feel like your bed is pulling you?

With so much on our plates, we tend to take the time to relax and enjoy some entertainment via online. However, it’s also important to assess our entertainment choices mindfully as they might influence negative things and affect how we handle things on a daily basis. Entertainment can be a great source of our relaxation to temporarily escape from stress, but they can also become negatively consuming and addictive that may affect how we handle our time and also sway how we perceive things if not assessed and balanced properly.

For an instance, have you ever felt guilty for binge-watching a certain Netflix series in one day, neglecting your activities and responsibilities? If so, then it’s time to assess the concept of mindful consumption and learn how to balance your entertainment choices for a more fulfilling and thriving life.

Reflect: Are you being responsible?

In achieving this balance, the first thing to do is to reflect on the essence of your entertainment choices and your behaviors. Is it beneficial for your health? Does it hinder you on keeping on track of your routine? Are you learning something decent from the content of your chosen entertainment? There’s no problem with having your leisure time, specifically gadget related activities; video games, binge watching movies etc. What’s important is not to give all your time to it, you should try other activities and set limits as well to balance your plate.

Learn new activities: Rewire Your Brain

While it’s easy to get comfortable with our go-to pastime, it’s also important to get out of our comfort zone and explore new experiences. Try to do what they call “free therapy”, learn painting or practice some guitar chords; it might turn into a hobby. Read a different genre of book, watch documentary movies, or you may start making lifestyle blogs and spread your words of wisdom, or even try to do physical activities that are essential for your body and inner peace like yoga or trekking and feel the breeze of the fresh air and appreciate the therapeutic beauty of our nature.

By participating in various activities, you’ll not only expand your knowledge and interests but also prevent yourself from wasting time in bed, which can lead to weight gain, decreased energy levels, and contribute to feelings of sadness that may eventually lead to anxiety and depression.

Set Limits and Priorities: Sustaining Balance

Time management is a must and balancing is all about moderation. Set limits for yourself and be consistent in following a certain number of hours per week or else that may cause you trouble.

There are tons of essential apps that you may use to achieve well-balanced entertainment choices. ‘MindfulBreaks’ is one of the available apps online that features sending reminders to users or track and control how long they use their mobile phones. That way, it will make them wary about their activities.

That’s why managing your time is one of the components to sustain balance for entertainment and for your duties in life while leaving the rest of your time for watching movies or playing video games, and other activities like hobbies, exercise, or spending time with loved ones. If you are one of those people who enjoy online entertainment, such as gaming and playing at the best Australian online casinos, it’s crucial to be mindful and consider setting limits on the amount of time or money you spend on it. Additionally, ensuring that you choose reputable sites is essential for a secure and responsible gambling experience.

Choose What’s Best for You

Instead of mindlessly scrolling through an endless list of movies to watch during your free time, try to choose content that aligns with your interests and values in life. Take watching documentaries as an example. Aside from the mere entertainment, it also educates you on important social issues. By making intentional choices about what you watch, you can turn your entertainment time into an eye opener experience.

Take your time to detach yourself from screens and participate in activities offline that’s much healthier for you physically and mentally. This helps reduce digital fatigue and gain a social connection that is good for you to avoid isolation.

Aside from choosing what’s best for your personal growth and becoming a better version of yourself through what form and content of entertainment you are selecting to consume. It’s important to also be mindful of your health, specifically your eyes; prolonged exposure to radiation will cause your vision to get blurry. We also forget to eat on time sometimes or neglect the basic essentials of self-care, such as proper hygiene due to time mismanagement, which is not good for our health.

Maintain Relationships

Prioritize real-world connections rather than virtual interactions. While it’s undeniable that virtual friends or communities can be fun, nothing beats the laughter and jokes you share in personal interactions especially with those people who are close to you. Strengthening your relationships not only benefits our bonds with them but also prevents us from dwelling in isolation. It’s much more fun to let the time pass while spending quality time with our loved ones without even using mobile phones for entertainment or pastimes. Whether it’s through having a barbecue in your backyard or playing snake-in-ladder with your friends.

Always remember that entertainment is not only beyond leisure; it also gives essence to our lives. It should enhance our overall well-being and help us grow as individuals, not hinder our progress or consume our lives. So, whatever entertainment you want to partake in, make sure that it allows you to find that balance and prioritize other aspects of your life while having some time to break time and relax. We only live once so we should ensure and set a goal to live a thriving and fulfilling life. Go ahead, indulge in your leisure activities and always keep in mind to ‘set limitations’ in order to avoid unfortunate incidents and regrets.