The world of online entertainment took a giant step forward, in my opinion, when Hulu.com launched a couple of weeks ago.
The website, which is owned primarily by NBC Universal and Fox, offers up TV shows (full episodes and clips), as well as movies. They’re streamed on your computer and they’re free of charge. I’ll repeat that: They’re free of charge.
One great thing about Hulu is that since the content comes from the studios themselves, the quality is very high. You’re required to watch short commercials (not as many as if you were watching on television), but that’s a small price to pay, in my opinion.
In addition to some current shows (Saturday Night Live, The Office, New Amsterdam, Deal or No Deal, among others) the site offers lots of old shows, including Picket Fences, Fame, The Addams Family, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
So how is this related to organizing? Mostly, I just wanted to share a really good thing. But let’s see…I personally am planning to use this as a personal productivity tool. Hulu has the potential to be a huge time suck. Instead of allowing that to happen, I’ll use it, in conjunction with my timer, to reward myself for working (at my desk or in my office) for a given period of time. For a particularly odious task, l’d do 15 minutes of the task, followed by the reward of watching a Saturday Night Live sketch on Hulu. Repeat until task is finished. Or I might write for 45 minutes, then reward myself by watching a whole episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (or Nanny and the Professor!).
If you enjoy television as much as me (movies, too—The Big Lebowski is available!!), you’ll be glad you checked out Hulu.
Tagged with: productivity, rewards, television
Janine,
You are saving the planet by posting this! No more trips to Block Buster. Fewer deliveries from Netflix.
Less gas, less energy, more TV!
This is a “MUST SEE” blog post.
Geralin Thomas March 26, 2008 05:17 PM
Jenean, thanks for bringing up a very important aspect to Hulu…that it goes well with knitting!
Geralin, I’m saving the planet! I love it! Thanks for making me chuckle.
Janine Adams March 26, 2008 05:34 PM
This is awesome! What I do – and it certainly isn’t everyday – when I’m on a time crunch to get some knitting done I watch old episodes of LOST which is steamed from ABC.com. I’m not a big t.v. watcher, so being able to watch the older episodes keeps me up to date on the current season, and I do this at least once a month. Not, Hulla will give me more options. Thanks for sharing :)
Jenean March 25, 2008 10:34 AM