Maybe there are people out there with self control. People with a strange power that enables them to start a TV show and then just... stop. The rest of us have to be more careful about when we start something, because we know that we are going to have no choice but to finish it. We are the people that put the Netflix in Netflix and chill. The one's who go around, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, looking for someone to talk about the Lost finale with six years after it premiered. The ones who might start season one in the morning and be well into season three by the time we pass out, surrounded by chip bags and the clothes we planned on getting dressed in back when we used to kid ourselves that we were getting out of bed that day.
Not every show pulls us into its world so easily, allowing most of us to manage to be completely functional. We go to class, we go to work, we have occasional social interaction. But even the best of us make mistakes. A short comedy that we don't plan on liking at all ends up being an insane drama with twists and turns that we can't stop watching. There are certain times in our lives in which we should avoid even thinking about watching a new show, just in case.
1.) Within three weeks of any exam
You might be able to get away with it if there are only two or three seasons out right now, but why risk it? Chances are three weeks is just long enough to get emotionally involved and then have your heart broken when you come to the crushing reality that the characters you love aren't real.
2. At the beginning of break
You probably feel like you really deserve to watch TV after all of the time you spent studying and taking finals, but If you start of spring break or summer break inside watching Netflix you are never going to go outside. You won't even think about the outside until you are stuck inside a class room again with nothing for your eyes to focus on besides the closed window.
3. Near Christmas or any holiday that is important to your friends/family
They are going to want you to be doing things. The nagging can get pretty annoying, but it's more annoying to have them interrupting your show all of the time.
4. When your social relationships begin to suffer
TV watching can become a socially acceptable version of addiction. If you know you have a problem, take a break. Reconnect with your friends. Go outside.
Netflix will always be waiting.
