The Agony of Choice
The problem with binging media is the transition between commitments
Does anyone else find it hard when they come to the end of a book or TV show?
I always find it hard to want to start something new. If I’m watching or reading something long-term, it becomes a habit. It’s probably something to do with it taking away the need to make decisions. I’m putting on some TV, so I simply go to the next episode. I’m settling in to read, so I pick up the same book.
And so when I finish whichever series or story I’ve been invested in for so long, I find myself at a complete loss for what to do?
…when 3 come along at once
Last week, I experienced a perfect storm.
For a while now I’ve been invested in three separate ongoing stories.
I’ve been rewatching the whole of Futurama, starting with the original episodes and watching all the way through to catch up with the later ones I hadn’t seen
I’ve been rewatching the Zero Punctuation compilation videos on YouTube. 15 years of weekly 10-minute videos compiled together, perfect to put on when I wanted something in the background or had a few minutes to kill
I’ve been reading through Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy, three epic historical novels spanning the entirety of the 20th Century.
And last week I finished them all!
Within the space of a couple of days, all the media I had been engaging with for weeks was gone and I couldn’t think of a single new thing to watch.
The agony of choice
Of course, I have an entire internet worth of replacements. My “To Watch” lists on Netflix and Amazon are packed with options, with so much more waiting to be added. My "To Read" pile never seems to get any smaller, and even if it did I’m in a house filled with books.
But actually picking any of it felt impossible.
I realise that this is me wallowing deep in the mud-puddle of first-world problems. Oh, woe is me, I have so many choices. It’s too hard to pick from all the available options.
I know, right? Where’s my GoFundMe campaign?
But today I wallow in my own selfish little world. A world where this utter non-problem can be blown up into a full-on childish sulk. So I’ll thank you to let me whine about it like the privileged white man that I am.
Am I the only one? I’m sure other people must go through this as well?
