In the past 5 years, our consumption of entertainment through OTT platforms has increased multifold.
Ever since I succumbed to the "Good Wife" binge-watching episode back in 2017, I've become conscious of my time spent on OTT platforms.
As I started observing my behavior, I noticed a pattern - I might switch on the TV to watch something interesting for 15-20 minutes when I'm taking a break. As I open any of the platforms, I invariably keep scrolling to figure out what to watch most of the time and end up feeling exhausted, before making a choice. These platforms pave way for infinite scroll behavior, similar to social media.
A few steps taken so far:
- We have subscribed to Prime and Disney-Hotstar annual plans. For Netflix, we usually subscribe for a month, and then take a break for 3 months. This decision was mainly due to the higher monthly subscription charges. It also avoids the trap of pushing ourselves to watch something instantly, as soon as a new movie is released. For eg, I watched Shyam Singha Roy, Hey Sinamika, and Ante Sundaraniki all during the past month, though they were released in different months.
- I prefer to watch movies over web series. Movies are a 2-3 hour commitment, whereas web series requires a lot more time, once we start watching them. If a web series is highly recommended or something that I might like, the first thing I check is the number of seasons and episodes in each season. Recently, I watched "Suzhal" which had only 8 episodes.
- I don't watch every single new movie that gets released. I only choose movies in the genre of my liking - comedy, romance, light-hearted, or drama. Many movies are so violent and gory these days. Not worth our time and mental energy.
- I prefer to access OTT platforms on our living room TV, and not on my laptop. This way, I don't end up spending time on TV when my daughter is around, as the content might not be appropriate for her age.
- Be it weekdays or weekends, I feel sleepy by 9:30-10 PM. So I don't prefer to watch movies that stimulate my mind in the late evenings.
We are what we consume, through our senses. Being mindful about the content we take in has a tremendous impact on our wellbeing.