“Are you still watching?” Netflix asks you with a polite pop up in the middle of your show. Yes, yes I am. Forty minutes here, forty minutes there, before you know it, your day is long gone and you are three seasons into a new show and elbows deep in a gallon of ice cream.

We are all guilty of it: binge-watching our favorite shows in the little bit of free time we have as busy college students. But that’s just it. Keywords: little bit of free time. Why are we OK with spending the sliver of time we have to ourselves with our eyes glued on a TV or computer screen and our minds hypnotized by something most likely not enthralling.

It’s easy to come home, hop into bed and log into your Netflix account and watch the day away but I have found there are things much more interesting to rope me in than just my Netflix account.

If I am going to spend hours on one activity, I would much rather pick up a good book and read away. Reading allows you to paint your own pictures in your head instead of them flashing before you for hours on end, leaving nothing there for your imagination to create.  There is something new to learn in every book to get your creative juices flowing.

I can remember books I read years ago which changed my outlook or taught me something. I can’t remember what episode of “The Office” I watched yesterday. The ability for something on Netflix to expand your mind the way a book does seems so slim to me because it requires no work and little to no thinking.

Through the many nights spent cuddling my computer, I have had moments where I feel the characters on the screen are my friends because of the time I spend with them. Once I took a step back and came back to reality, I realized while I am spending hours of time with my “friends,” I could be out there experiencing life hands on, with real people and real things to involve myself in.

Every day you have 525,600 minutes to make something of yourself. I believe experiencing life hands-on is one of the most influential experiences a college-aged person can have because of the impact and change a single experience can have on a young life.

As well as I know how addicting binge-watching Netflix is, I care more about the quality of my life and have chosen to keep the mindless Netflix-watching to a minimum. I hope a book or reality can show me something more intriguing.