Weekend plans include Netflix, more Netflix

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People gather to watch Netflix. Thought TV ratings dropped toward the end of last year, college students still find time to binge-watch on these online streaming services. (Netflix)

Television ratings dropped four percent towards the end of 2014 as more people began streaming TV online. Online streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime have all increased at least 60 percent in subscriptions since last quarter, and many college students have taken the generally healthy word “marathon” and applied it to Netflix.

BYU student Adam Roberts tweeted earlier this year, “Waiting for BYU to add a Netflix course, so instead of ‘being lazy’ and ‘procrastinating,’ I can just study all day and night.”

Despite busy schedules, college students still find time watch Netflix. According to a Texas Tech University study, 68 percent of college students have admitted to binge-watching a show on Netflix at some point. This means they have watched at least three episodes of a show at once.

“There is that 15-second thing where Netflix automatically plays the next episode,” said BYU neuroscience student Colby Erickson. “It leads you into watching the next one without even thinking twice about it.”

Tony Pratt is a mentor who teaches a time management workshop in the Wilkinson Student Center. Pratt said students waste their time in so many ways.

“There is Facebook, social media, Youtube and Netflix,” Pratt said. “These things are not bad when they are used as tools, but most people lose time using them to procrastinate.”

However, Pratt said he thinks Netflix can be used as a motivator. “There is nothing better than a classic movie,” Pratt said. “Once everything is done at the end of the day, then watch some Netflix. It’s guilt-free free time.”

Students sometimes need to study for long periods of time. Erickson takes a half-hour break for every two hours of studying. “Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated again,” Erickson said. “To get motivated again, I think about my future. If I want to go to medical school, I need to do my work.”

Pratt likes to focus on a task for 10 minutes. “You can do anything for ten minutes,” he said. “It starts off as 10 minutes, then it turns into 20 and all of a sudden you have studied for an hour and a half.”

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