Do entertainment possibilities affect our productivity?

Can you be productive with so many games around?

In our modern world we have more options for entertainment. This includes TV shows, Movies, Games, Videos (YouTube) or VR. In contrast between today and a century ago, there is a big difference. Our grandparents didn’t have so many options. They were left with books and friends. With this in mind, they had probably more free time, since you “can’t” be with your friends half the day or read a book so many hours. I mean they could, but it wasn’t very probable.

Did our grandparents have more time to be productive?
It depends.

Today, we still have the option not to spend our time with entertainment possibilities. But do these growing options to have fun make us more likely to spend our time using it? Thus have less time to do something productive?

My personal opinion is, that it depends on our mindset.

Productive mindset:
If our mindset is productive, it doesn’t matter what are the options for entertainment, we still have the need to be productive with our time. If it means to learn something new, read books or just practice some sort of skill, i.e. programming, playing some musical instrument.
People with productive mindset usually doesn’t feel happy or they are bothered after they have spend some of their time doing something, which doesn’t add value to their life. Best example for this is watching TV or playing meaningless computer game. They might felt happy or comfortable during that time, but after that they realize, that they were doing something “stupid” and are not happy about that (my personal experience).

“Lazy” mindset:
People with lazy mindset usually do the work they must do, but with their free time they choose to spend their time having fun. They feel happy and want to feel happy whenever possible.
However it surely feels nice to them, if they have done something productive in their free time, it is the initial effort, to start doing something productive (which is the hardest part), that discourages them to do so. They rather choose to stay in their comfort zone, than overcome that initial effort.

But what determines our mindset? Can we change it during our lifetime?

In our earlier life, the biggest influence over our mindset are our parents.
We often try to replicate their behavior. They also can “force” us, to do something productive, like giving us a book to read or sign us for musical practice. Children often don’t feel happy about it, they would like to just have fun, but luckily, those “forces” secretly build habits inside us. If those habits are doing homework on time, reading or learning, it surely influences a lot our mindset.
This “beginning” of our lives, habits we have developed, form our adult life.

Also big influence are our friends. If they are lazy, we probably become more lazy too.
On the other hand, if our friends are ambitious and more open to challenges, we often join them.

Can we, with all this in mind, change our perspective of becoming more productive just like that?

I think we can.

If a person thinks about all this stuff, he can realize on his own to remove his addictions, thus his mission to be more productive. He can start form his habits to be more productive, spend his time to create value or learn something, because he now knows, that that’s the life he wants to have.