I’ve seen it all- The Walking Dead, New Girl, Jane the Virgin, Black Mirror, The Office- the list goes on and on. I consider myself a Netflix connoisseur so when I ran out of shows to watch, I was lost. I dabbled from show to show, but couldn’t get hooked on one, and all the hours I usually spent watching Netflix were free.

According to NY Daily News writer David Hinckley, the average American watches more than five hours of television a day. That’s 35 hours a week, 1,825 hours a year, and all adds up to, on average, 76 days spent watching television out of the year. I was, no doubt, someone who followed those trends almost exactly. But what if I spent half of that time working out? Or even sleeping? I would be jacked and well rested… so why was I wasting so much of my time?

According to the New York Times, scientific studies of people’s viewing habits are finding that for the most frequent viewers, watching television has many of the marks of a dependency like alcoholism or other addictions. When you really look at it, that lowkey Netflix addiction that you play off is really taking over your life.

When I unintentionally broke this procession of binge watching and was left with so much time, I really began to understand the impact Netflix had on my life. Without being compelled to my laptop screen, I had nothing to turn to when the procrastination struck; I’ve been doing my homework in record breaking time. Not only that, but I have been cooking, reading, working out more, and I have so much more time to devote to my friends. I would never choose Netflix over my friends, but by finishing the stuff I need to quicker, I spend so much more time with my friends and family. Not to mention more time for sleeping and, while inadvertent, my room is somehow cleaner?

While I do miss the Stranger Things drama, I am so much more fulfilled with my days and how I am spending them. I recommend that everyone take a Netflix hiatus, no matter how long or how short, and really enjoy the benefits.