# How to Reduce Binge Watching When Working From Home
Working from home offers incredible flexibility and comfort, but it also presents a unique challenge that many remote workers face: the temptation to binge watch television shows and movies during work hours. The statistics are striking. As many as 84% of Gen Z workers admitted they stream shows and movies while working from home, and 53% of them have put off work to finish a show they’re binge-watching.[3] This isn’t just a Gen Z problem either. Remote workers across all age groups struggle with the blurred lines between work and entertainment when their office is just steps away from their couch and streaming services.
The problem is real and widespread. When you work from home, the boundary between your professional responsibilities and your personal entertainment becomes dangerously fluid. Your favorite shows are just a click away, and there’s no manager watching over your shoulder to keep you accountable. The comfort of your home environment, combined with the easy access to streaming content, creates a perfect storm for productivity loss and work delays.
But here’s the good news: this challenge is entirely manageable with the right strategies and mindset. By implementing practical techniques and creating strong boundaries, you can significantly reduce binge watching during work hours while still maintaining the flexibility and comfort that makes remote work appealing.
## Understanding Why Binge Watching Happens at Home
Before you can effectively combat binge watching, you need to understand why it happens in the first place. Remote work removes the physical and social barriers that exist in a traditional office environment. In an office, you can’t just turn on Netflix without everyone noticing. You have colleagues around you, managers who might walk by your desk, and a clear separation between your work space and your entertainment space.
At home, none of these barriers exist. You have complete privacy and autonomy. This freedom, while wonderful in many ways, can become a liability when you’re trying to stay focused on work. Additionally, streaming services are specifically designed to be addictive. They use algorithms to recommend content tailored to your interests, they automatically play the next episode, and they create cliffhangers that make you want to keep watching just one more episode.
The psychology of binge watching is powerful. When you watch a show, your brain releases dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure and reward. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger or a satisfying moment that makes you want to watch the next one. This creates a cycle of anticipation and reward that’s hard to break, especially when you’re stressed about work or feeling bored with your tasks.
## Creating Physical and Digital Barriers
One of the most effective ways to reduce binge watching is to make it harder to access your streaming services in the first place. This might sound simple, but adding friction between you and your impulse to watch TV can be surprisingly effective.[1]
Start by removing streaming apps from your phone’s home screen. You don’t need to delete them entirely, just move them to a folder that’s not immediately visible. This small change means you have to take extra steps to access Netflix or other streaming services, which gives your rational brain time to catch up with your impulse brain and remind you that you should be working.
Similarly, log out of your streaming accounts on your computer. Yes, this is inconvenient, but that’s the point. When you have to enter your password every time you want to watch something, you’re creating a moment of pause where you can reconsider whether now is really the time to start a new episode.
For a more aggressive approach, consider using app blockers or browser extensions that prevent you from accessing streaming websites during your work hours.[2] These tools can be set to automatically block access to specific websites at specific times, removing the temptation entirely. Some app blockers even allow you to set up focus sessions where all distracting apps and websites are blocked for a set period of time.
If you want to go even lower tech, try using a timed lock box to keep your phone out of reach during work hours.[1] This physical barrier is surprisingly effective because it removes the option entirely. You can’t mindlessly reach for your phone to check a show if your phone is locked away in a box that won’t open for another two hours.
## Establishing Clear Work Hours and Boundaries
One of the biggest mistakes remote workers make is failing to establish clear boundaries between work time and personal time. When your bedroom is also your office, and your living room is also your break room, these boundaries become blurry very quickly.
The solution is to set specific work hours and stick to them religiously.[2] Decide when your workday starts and when it ends, and communicate these hours to your household members. During your work hours, work is your only job. Entertainment comes after.
To make this easier, block social media and streaming services during your first two hours after waking and the hour before bed.[1] These are the times when you’re most vulnerable to distraction. Your brain is either still waking up or starting to wind down, and you’re more likely to reach for entertainment as a way to ease the transition.
Within your work hours, use the Pomodoro Technique to structure your time.[2] This method involves working intensely for 25 minutes, then taking a 5-minute break. After four cycles, you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. This structure gives you clear work periods and clear break periods, which helps prevent the gradual drift into binge watching that happens when you don’t have defined boundaries.
## Replacing Binge Watching with Meaningful Activities
One of the most important strategies for reducing binge watching is to replace it with activities that are more fulfilling and engaging. If you simply remove the option to watch TV without replacing it with something else, you’ll feel deprived and you’ll be more likely to give in to temptation.
During your breaks, engage in activities that demand your full presence and attention.[1] Cook something you’ve been wanting to try. Play a musical instrument. Have an uninterrupted conversation with a family member or friend. Read a book. Go for a walk. Do something that fully engages your mind and body.
You might be surprised at how different time feels when you’re fully engaged in an activity rather than passively scrolling or watching. Time seems to stretch and become more meaningful. You feel more satisfied and energized after these breaks compared to how you feel after watching TV.
Think about hobbies or interests you loved before you got caught up in binge watching. Maybe you used to paint, or write, or play sports, or work on a garden. Reconnect with these activities. They provide the same dopamine hit that binge watching does, but they also leave you feeling accomplished and energized rather than guilty and drained.
## Creating Phone-Free and Device-Free Zones
Your physical environment has a huge impact on your behavior. If your bedroom is filled with screens and your couch is positioned perfectly for watching TV, you’re
