DVR and TIVO - Use Less Knowledge about Getting More Time

I am offering "Use Less" Knowledge.  The knowledge you need to use less:  less time, money, energy, gas, effort, etc.  Use Less and still get what you want and need.  It is a philosophy of thrift and efficiency.  Enjoy more while you Use Less.

You can make money. You can save money. You cannot make time or stick it in the bank for your future needs. Once it has past it is never to be seen again.

Time is so valuable that it is the one thing we always wish we had more of when we are our death beds: "I just wish I'd had a little more time".

OK, folks. Here's more time!

Since I have acquired my first digital video recorder or DVR (TiVO is a brand of DVR) I have had more time and more control over my time. If I were not a television watcher, it would not matter, but I am. There's stuff on TV I like to watch.

The stuff on TV that I like to watch is not usually on when I am in the mood to watch it or, usually, when I am available.  It comes on when I am falling asleep, like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.  Sometimes it comes on in the middle of a sunny day when I'd rather be outside with my daughter and my dog.

The other problem I have with the TV I like to watch is the huge chunks of time spent on commercials.  I was watching the new "Falling Skies" series and for every 5 minute segment of actual "show" there was three to four minutes of commercial.  That was a startling finding when I actually took the time to compute it.  For regular broadcast TV (Falling Skies is on cable) there is a limit of (I think) about 20 minutes an hour of commercial.  Still a huge chunk.

I want to watch the shows I like and I want to watch them at MY convenience.  I want to watch the show and NOT watch the commercials.  The DVR gives me the control.

I do not have to know when my favorite shows come on, what day or time or even on which channels.  I search on the show's name and tell my recorder that I want to record every "Law and Order: SVU" that comes on; any day, any time, any channel.  Or, I can pick "first run only" and I can select on the High Definition channels.  The DVR finds the shows, records them and holds them for me.  When I have some time to watch I can review the list, delete the ones I don't want to see or have already seen and watch the ones I am interested in.

I can skip the commercials and watch a one hour show in as little as 40 minutes.  That's very cool.  I have just 'created' an extra 20 minutes in my day.  Or, I can watch 2 episodes in 80 minutes rather than 2 hours.

While I am watching I can decide when to take a break to use the bathroom or stir the soup on the stove.  I can stop the recording playback whenever I wish.  I can answer the phone and talk as long as I like.  I can also watch the first ten minutes, decide it's boring and delete the whole episode and watch another.  This is great for catching up on old episodes of House.

What if I want to watch "The Good Wife" with my wife on the night a new episode is broadcast?  Do I need bother with a DVR?  Yes, yes, yes.  Still the phone may ring in the middle and my DVR will let me pause the live TV to answer (if I wish).  Also, I can start recording at the beginning of the episode but not start watching until twenty minutes past the hour.  I still finish at the same time!  I just start at 10:20PM and skip the commercials.  I am finished at 11:00pm just like everyone else BUT I have had an uninterrupted 20 minutes to clean the kitchen, call my mom, move my laundry along or whatever!

DVR is the best time management tool I have ever found.  To get more time in your busy schedule, buy one. for the record, I have never bought one. I got it free (three times) with my cable TV subscriptions.

Get a DVR. Or, throw away your TV.