Writing assignment: 250 words on this. “How much money won’t I have at age 70 if I keep watching TV? Is TV worth this?”
Unlike many people my age, I do not watch TV unless I’m sitting with my family and they want to watch a movie. TV watching is more of a family bonding experience for me than something I do in my leisure time. So instead of measuring my TV watching, for this activity I measured the time I spend watching unproductive YouTube videos (i.e. funny edits, reactions, cute animals, etc. I am not including videos about business, news commentary, or self-improvement). This activity is designed to determine how much money I would forfeit if I use my spare time to watch YouTube instead of starting a business.
Using an application called RescueTime, which tracks how much time you spend on every app and website you use on your devices, I concluded that I watch about 8 hours of unproductive YouTube a week. I entered this information into a compounding calculator. 8 hours a week at $20/hour with 10% interest over 10 years. Over 10 years, I will lose roughly $133k if I continue my current YouTube watching habits. Over 40 years at $50/hour, that number grows to nearly $10M.
This now raises the question, “Is it worth it?” I personally think that it is not. There are plenty of other ways to wind down at the end of the day that are more productive and can actually help me build important skills. Digital painting, playing instruments, and reading are just a few ideas I thought of. These can help me build marketable skills and do freelancing or something on the side. Even if I do not start a business, I think that these activities will help me be more productive in my life than watching goofy YouTube videos will.
Sofia the First 