TV Tuesday: Discussion: How I Manage My TV Shows During the School Year

Let me tell you right off the bat. It's HARD. I'm behind on probably at least half of the shows I watch, so I'm definitely not an expert on this. Granted, there are different reasons for my lack of motivation to catch up, as well as time constraints. But will all the fall shows coming back, I wanted to discuss this topic. How can you manage to watch so many shows if you're busy with school and can't take the time to watch it when it airs?

The first part is keeping track of the shows you watch, the days they're on, and the episodes you've missed. For example, I know that I'm currently caught up on NCIS, NCIS:LA, and Elementary. I also know that I haven't watched anything past and including the Rings of Akhaten (Doctor Who), that I have about 6 episodes of Psych to catch up on, and that I have roughly 5 episodes of Graceland to catch up on. I also know that I'm a few episodes behind on Covert Affairs, that I'm behind by one and a half seasons of Suits, a season behind on White Collar, and about 7 seasons behind on Supernatural. And that's just the start of my list. Now, I generally try to update my Tumblr TV shows page, so I use that to keep a general idea of where I am in a TV show.


Clearly, I'm not very good at managing my TV shows during the school year. BUT another thing is to know which shows are your priority. In my case, I know that I have to start catching up on Psych, Covert Affairs, and Doctor Who. I know I can put off Graceland until even this spring. It's about figuring out which ones you consider to be the most important.

Then, there's the problem of actually finding time to watch the shows. Don't expect to be able to watch TV shows live if you're a student. Unless maybe you get a lot less homework than I do. Who knows? Know where you can find new episodes. Some sites will take longer to put their shows online (I'm looking at you USA Network). Some shows are easy to find and watch online.

You honestly have to just find your own time to watch shows. I try to catch up on Friday nights, possibly leading into Saturday, especially since I have so many activities going on during the week after school. I used to be really bad at managing my time, and I would sneak in an episode at 12 or 1 in the morning instead of going to sleep. I DON'T recommend this unless you're someone that doesn't tire easily or that won't be tempted to fall asleep in class. The number of times I've come close to falling asleep in class is astonishing. But it's still hard, as you can tell by the number of shows I'm behind on.

The thing is, I know that I'm a good binge watcher. So I can probably catch up on Doctor Who and Psych in one weekend, if not less. I won't do it now because I have to blog, tweet, do my homework, study, and work on projects (I've gotten a bit better at not being tempted to watch shows on weeknights), but sometimes, if I know I have a little less homework, I'll sneak in an episode. Maybe this won't work for you. For me, it works enough. I'm okay with being a bit behind on my shows. There are shows I'll probably stop watching, though the reasons for it vary, but there will always be more shows to take their place, and it's up to me to decide what I want to spend my time watching and what I don't want to watch. So there's a fine line, but once you figure it out, you're set.

How do you manage your TV shows? Do you prefer to binge watch or watch an episode right away? How many shows do you watch? How do you fit TV shows into your busy homework schedule?