With millions upon millions of subscribers around the world, Netflix has moved on from being just a company, with a name that has transitioned from noun to verb relatively seamlessly. It might as well be considered a pastime at this point. As such, it might not be much of a surprise to learn that on average, watching Netflix is one of the most time-intensive activities that subscribers do in a given day.
Consequently, that means there are a ton of other activities that people end up doing less than binging on Daredevil and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and here are 8 of them. For what it’s worth, the study that this information comes from reports that people basically sleep, work, and engage in other leisure activities more than using Netflix. Pull up a plate of ribs and read on.
Eating
I don’t know about you, but I love food, and I may or may not have a hamburger currently hanging out of my mouth as I write this. But apparently the 70 minutes that people spend with food in a day doesn’t quite compare to the 90 minutes that we spend watching Netflix. Personally, I like to put on a good dialogue-heavy comedy like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia while I’m cooking, which I guess is killing two birds with one stone. And then seasoning those birds and putting them in the oven.
Reading
Reading is generally a favorite activity among most people, but in today’s busy world, it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to find a quiet span of time to sit down with a good book. (Or an e-book, or even a doctor’s office pamphlet.) It looks like readers are getting things done just over half as much as they’re getting their Netflix on, with books-in-hand time clocking it at 49 minutes. Does it count if they’re reading Piper Kerman’s book along with Orange is the New Black?
Personal Care
As a guy who isn’t particularly interested in my appearance, I honestly don’t take as much time for personal care as I should, keeping it limited to things involving showerheads and toiletries. (And I have long hair, so that might even skew the time more.) But regardless of my monstrous looks, it seems like everyone spends less time taking care of themselves than watching Netflix. I mean, what’s the point in curling my eyelashes when Narcos’ Pablo Escobar is just going to kill everyone?
Buying Things
Whether you’re a mallrat or someone who likes to hang around the bakery side of a grocery store – because fresh bread just smells so good – you’re still not going to be in purchasing mode as much as you will be in Netflix-watching mode. Although that average has to be slightly off where buying a new phone is concerned, since that shit takes fore-e-ever, but then you can download the Netflix app onto the phone as soon as you leave the store.
Commuting
This one really depends on people’s jobs and living situations, as the average states that people spend almost three times as much of the day watching Netflix as experiencing a 33-minute daily commute. A friend of mine spends around 3 hours a day of interstate driving for his commute, while I basically just walk from my bed to my computer. So I guess I watch Netflix hundreds of times longer than my commute. Right on.
Childcare
This entry is just amuzing, as I can on one hand laugh at the fact that people will put more effort into watching Frank Underwood’s dastardly deeds than into spending time with their kids (for an average of 25 minutes), and on the other hand, I can’t deny that Frank Underwood is a lot more interesting than most children. I have two daughters of my own, and while it’s virtually impossible to get through an entire episode of anything without interruption, I’ve certainly upped my Netflix viewing average with Sesame Street and repeat viewings of Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
Civic or Religious Activities
This one makes a certain amount of sense, as many religions have mass (or something similar) just once a week, and most civic duties come around even less. (Unless you’re just really into voting for things every day of the week.) And apparently not even all the time spent on daily prayers and “obeying the law” can match the time spent quoting Bubbles saying “Jesus Murphy!” on Trailer Park Boys.
Adult Intimacy
This particular entry probably doesn’t cover “signing up for Ashley Madison and lurking around,” but rather just the physical act of sex and naked Marco Polo and whatnot. When you get right down to it, most people’s sex lives average out to around 2 minutes a day, which would just take up the amount of time that a commercial would take if Netflix ever started showing them. Now, if there was a list like this where the subject was “Things We Wish We Were Doing More Than Watching Netflix,” adult intimacy would probably blow the other choices…away.
