Earlier this week I turned on the TV as I was making myself breakfast. The game show, “The Price Is Right” was on and kicking off their 47th season and an Emmy win with a special episode. Everyone was dressed in formal wear and one contestant won $100,000!

I loved this show when I was a kid. I’m old enough to remember when it was still in its infancy with original host Bob Barker (with current host Drew Carey in the above picture). I even recall watching a special St. Patrick’s Day episode in the 1970s with my grandpa where they gave away a memorable gold VW Beetle with green metallic shamrocks painted on the side. Really classy!

Watching TV was an activity that my Grandparents seemed to do a lot of in retirement. They watched the news, sports, Johnny Carson, and more news. In fact, if I could go back in time and talk to my kid-self, I would probably hear myself describe retirement as a time when you can watch as much TV as you want. Since I grew up to produce TV commercials, I would probably think that was a great thing!

The fact is, I don’t watch much TV now. Certainly, no more than I did when I was working. Even if I think about my total screen time (laptop, phone, tablet), I don’t think it has changed too much. The one exception might be when the Olympics have been on – both Summer & Winter Game. Otherwise, I hardly watch TV during the daytime at all. There are too many other interesting things to do with my time.

I turned off ‘The Price is Right’ that morning before they even got to the dramatic ‘Showcase Showdown’. I had quite a bit of stuff I wanted to do around the yard, I went for a walk, I ran some errands, and I met a friend for a beer. It was a great day, but I am sure my kid-self would have been surprised that I had so many other things to do than watch TV all day.

Has your screen time gone up or down since you retired?

Image Credit: ThePriceIsRight.com