As I countdown to my trip in a month I’m reflecting on things that I remembered. I lived with my grandparents from ages 7 to 11 in Dominica. We didn’t have cable so I must have read most of the books in the local library. When I got bored with those, I discovered that a local woman had an incredibly vast collection of teen and young adult fiction so I didn’t miss out on the essentials like Goosebumps, Fear Street, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Baby Sitters Club and V. C. Andrews. I miss those days.

Now, I read less. I am very aware that television is by far my biggest distraction. Ironically, I decided to install cable on a trial basis for 30 days. Already, I am unimpressed.

Prior to this, I had Netflix and Hulu (well, I still have them). However, once I downgrade from cable back to Netflix, I am going to put it on hold for a while while I read in my past-time. I have surrounded myself with so much distractions that I sleep less when I could change those habits. For example, I watch the Netflix movies as soon as possible because I want to return them in order to decrease my 500+ queue.

I think I’m going to give it up altogether.

I’ll save $15.00 that I pay monthly for Netflix and only pay the tooth-pulling price of $50.00 that I pay for the Internet. Expenses down and I will become more knowledgeable because there are thousands, if not millions, of books that I haven’t read yet.

If anything, I can continue painting.

What do you think? How are you increasing your productivity? Or, Are you as distracted as I am?