Goal Setting

One of the things that I am really bad about is time management. I would almost go as far as to say that I am lazy or lacking in any form of will power. Almost. When I am at home I am more apt to turn on the TV than be productive. Sundays and/or Saturday nights are usually my TV days. What I realized this week was that when I come home by 6 I waste at minimum 4 hours sitting in front of the TV. This cannot be good. I am not a morning person, so devotions don't tend to happen then. The TV goes on as soon as I get home from work, so devotions don't happen then either. I need to change this. The epiphany came Monday night when I started my new book, Shantaram: a 936 page novel. The last book I read of that length was a Harry Potter book and I had to go to Oxford, Maine to make the time to finish it. While I love to read, I never make it a priority. I will read for 30 - 60 minutes before bed but that is all of the reading I do in a day. It can take up to a month or more to finish a book at that pace. I have come to the decision that this is no longer acceptable. I need to spend more time in devotions and reading and less time in front of the glowing TV screen. So what does this mean? Should I go cold turkey and unplug the whole thing? I hope not. I think the solution is to ween myself off TV. I will still DVR the shows I want to see (do you really think I could miss out on Veronica Mars, Battlestar Galatica, and Lost?) and have a mega catch up session on the weekends. So here is the plan: one hour of TV a night on Monday - Friday and no more than four hours of TV each for Saturday and Sunday. This way I can spend my nights reading and start using that 30 - 60 minutes before bed doing a devotional. The one possible hiccup to this plan is that for the next week or two or three I still have E&J here who are big TV watchers as well. We usually eat dinner while watching whatever is on TV. I'm going to have to be strong and set up camp in my bedroom while they watch TV in the living room and resign myself to the fact that the one hour of TV each night may be reserved for dinner time. Heck, if I really get adventurous I could start walking again in the evening for an hour. Don't hold your breath on that one though. Do you ever have issues with the magnetic pull of the TV? Have you figured out the best way to manage all 24 hours in your day? I'm always looking for a better idea.