I have over six hundred books on my reading list, most of which I own. Some of them I have never read before, others I want to read again. They weigh on my mind and clutter my room. Some I want to read so I can review them on my blog, Lover’s Quarrel, and others seem like fun. Everywhere I look in my house, there are tons of books to read. I also have four reading apps on my phone.

But too often I turn to Netflix when I have some free time. I love Netflix. With all of its perfect shows and movies to binge-watch, I find myself wanting to binge-watch That 70’s Show (again) instead of wanting to read Diana Gabaldon’s Voyager for a couple of hours. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read. And there have been many times in my life when I preferred reading to watching television. But after starting college and then taking up landscaping as a summer job, I must confess that my reading habits have seriously declined. I even had to take a short hiatus from Lover’s Quarrel because I had no more books to review and couldn’t find the will to read any more.

Ironically, Netflix became my favorite free-time activity for the same reason I prefer books to television: it requires less imagination and energy. All the sights and sounds are provided to me so that I do not have to expend my precious mental energy and imagination, which are seriously depleted during the school year.

But Netflix quickly becomes a vicious cycle. It’s too tempting to watch when I have the energy to read, or even when I should be working. Luckily, there are ways to get away from Netflix and get back to reading, aside from unsubscribing from Netflix (let’s not get too crazy).

Listening to music or white noise has helped a lot. It gives me the same stimulation as the audio of a TV show, so my reading stays free of distractions. I have a white noise app that I like and I found some really good “Music to Read” videos on YouTube. Audiobooks also keep me away from Netflix because I can knit or clean while listening to them.

However, the most effective thing I’ve found to get away from Netflix is ​​to continue binge-watching. Not seriously. Once I find an amazing show and become obsessed with it, I can’t stop watching it until I run out of episodes. And after I ran out of episodes, other TV shows were ruined for me for a while. That happened with Stranger Things and I’m sure it will happen once it gets to season 8 of That 70’s Show. Since all television is ruined for me anyway, the best I can do is find a book that I know will be just as addictive as a good TV series. And that will drive me away from Netflix. In the meantime, I’ll have to force myself to read while I get over my TV craze.