It’s hard to imagine a household that hasn’t watched more TV this year.
For years now, TV and online video has been increasingly powerful in helping us to shape our understanding of the world. And, marooned in our homes, watching a global pandemic unfold around the world, taking in daily televised briefings from the leaders of our countries, our relationship with our TV has become more intimate still in 2020.
Sometimes it can feel like Netflix knows us better than anyone, suggesting personalised content with startling accuracy. It’s one of several tricks employed to warm up our relationship with our TV and it’s a relationship that’s become more intimate since we invited our TVs into our bedrooms.
We’ve all fallen asleep to the sounds and flicker of the TV. The evenings can feel short and our eyes heavy as we fight off sleep to luxuriate those few minutes longer in a little mindless TV ‘me time’. Eventually of course the battle is lost and we fall asleep, but it’s interesting to consider whether this nightly battle loss is incurring far bigger losses over time when it comes to the quality of our sleep.
Don’t let falling asleep in front of the tube send your sleep down the tube. However much you love your telly, take the time to switch it off and say goodnight.