How do you guys manage your watching

[Mad Dog]

Here's where my issue comes into play. I on average have 6-8 hours a week where I have the time to watch some wrestling. I'm good at sitting down and actually watching stuff but I seem to have severe ADD with it. I'll be starting to make progress on say WWF TV and then I just start getting the urge to watch something else.

 

So I either start bouncing around and making no progress or I get so indecisive with what to watch that I take a few weeks off. I really like sticking to one promotion at a time because I like being immersed in it but the lure of all the footage I have it always calling.

 

My newest idea is to set landmarks in my viewing and taking breaks when I hit those. I'm thinking I'll take some time off after Mania III and catch up on New Japan and RoH.

 

How do you guys manage that. Do you just force yourself to keep going or do you jump around?

[Matt D]

Poorly.

[goc]

Poorly.

This. I have so much stuff that I pretty much just jump around randomly. The only thing I've actually kept up with as far as trying to watch in chronological order is Southeastern/Continental but even then there are huge breaks in between me watching that and going off to watch other stuff. I also get into phases where I will watch a whole lot of stuff and then get burnt out and not watch at all for a few weeks.

[Mad Dog]

I haven't gotten burned out in a really long time. This sounds ridiculous but Plex has also helped a lot as I have stuff ready to go and don't have to dig through DVDs for it.

[Matt D]

But seriously, I have one basic rule. Wrestling doesn't get in the way of family. It fits into the margins. I have a few hours of free time a night. I try to spend that with my wife and/or kids.

 

I have various things I need to hit. I do 3 lucha matches on Segunda Caida a week. I've been writing the WTBBP column on P2BN, generally once a month (though that's slipping and may have to be on hiatus for me, sorry). I'm trying to watch stuff for GOAT. Right now I'm going through Hansen matches too, which is tangential but independent. I try to keep up with WWE at least a little, even if just the key matches and listening/half watching NXT as I'm doing other things. Sometimes a match will come around (like that recent Homna one or various indies) that I really want to find time to watch.

 

The time I can watch things are the following:

 

1.) When giving the toddler a bath or putting her to sleep. I usually have a 15-30 minute window there where I can't do much but look at the tablet. Good time for a recent lucha match OR more recently, the daily NWA Classics match.

2.) On the exercise bike. I do this 5-6 times a week for 30 minutes. I have my laptop set up and this is when I take notes for whatever match I'm writing up on SC (or something like the Hansen matches). Project time. I can't always get through two matches in this time, so I'll do the back half with something I can just watch and not have to follow too closely, either more classics or something else I meant to see for a while (I did Cena vs Michaels from WM recently this way. I want to watch the Memphis Lawler vs Bockwinkel matches all together sometime soon, etc).

3.) If I have a break at work, lunch break, etc. I can sometimes catch something on youtube or in the rare case I've gotten a DVD. Sometimes I can listen to documentaries/interviews/podcasts in the background, etc.

4.) but most podcasts I listen to I listen in my 15-20 minute drive to and from the commuter bus or if I have to do a long ride.

 

And PPVs and the occasional bits of live lucha (busca) I'll 2/3rds-watch on my laptop while we're watching TV or do something else, on mute, with subtitles on, generally.

 

That's my time. Life just got too busy. I have too many responsibilities.. I wish I was back in college with the sheer availability of what we have now out there.

 

Re: Burnout. Variety helps but projects help too. Even with the SC stuff, I need to break it up into some sort of series and not just watch random matches. That could be Hector Garza in 2010 or it could be every match I can find with Atlantis vs Emilio Charles, Jr. or it could be the build up to one specific hair match. But it has to be something.

[JRGoldman]

I generally just rabbit hole it. I'll see someone write a review of a match that I haven't seen or I want to revisit. When that match is over, I'll look at the related videos that youube suggests. Generally it leads me down some pretty weird paths, but I feel like I cover ground I wouldn't normally that way.

[khawk20]

For me it's random and when I have time, but once I start watching and cataloging something, if it's multi-disc I have to pretty much see it through until the end. I have a lot of larger sets that I am hesitant to start watching right now for that reason...Time dictates, right now, that my one-off discs or maybe 2 or 3 disc groupings are the way to go.

[peachchaos]

Good thread.

 

I feel perpetually stuck in the early 1980's. Not that I'm complaining.

 

But I keep jumping around. Always making classic, talked-about matches my priority. Only within the past month have I really dug into some classic JCP matches, for instance.

 

I've actually been thinking about setting a strict schedule and watching a few hours of one 80's promotion every night. Basically, I'd go through each of the DVDVR sets and then watch a bit of the TV for Mid Atlantic, Portland, Florida and Georgia.

 

It's just all so much. And all so fucking good.

[peachchaos]

I've also been working on this project ripping matches and promos in high quality from all the official WWE DVDs, going up to about 2000. At this point, I have about a TB of high quality matches on my HD.

 

So I'm collecting matches and basically will never have time to watch them all.

[El-P]

I'm single for the first time in 12 years. Watch stuff whenever I feel like it.

[PhilTLL]

I usually have one or two "projects" going to keep me from choice inertia, interrupted frequently by newly acquired or aired stuff, tips from here, or nostalgia rewatch. I work at home and my job has a lot of "hurry up and wait," so I frequently switch between background noise (MLB Network, this time of year) and wrestling. I don't have a wife or kids or anything worthy like that to occupy my time.

[BigBadMick]

The sheer volume of stuff available now is tough. I also get fidgety after settling on a particular promotion/timeframe. Just today as an example, I watched three late 1991 AJPW matches, then moved on to early 80s Memphis. That was partly inspired by Kris's podcast from a couple of weeks ago.

 

I marvel at the amount of footage Will, Kris, Pete, Dylan, Chad and Parv have consumed. Like someone said earlier, it's a pity this footage explosion/youtube etc hadn't happened when I was a teenager.

[BigBadMick]

....Having said all that, wrestling is a hobby. Sometimes I get hung up on how much stuff I still have on a 'must watch' list, but as long as I'm enjoying what I'm watching, when I get a chance to do so, I'm doing ok.

 

It's an impossible dream, like trying to watch all the movies I want to. Probably better that way, too.

[Cap]

I have waives of free time and then waives of NO time at all to watch. I also get bothered by my own tendency to jump around and watch stuff I know I like vs new stuff. I am the type of personality that needs direction, something to do. I love complete relax time, but my brain kind of wont let it happen much. In short, I need some direction and something structural for me to really maximize my time

 

My solution has been to start to keep track of my match rankings. About two weeks or so ago I started an exel spreadsheet where I keep track of match, my star rating, and about a paragraph on each. I bring this up because for me it keeps me from sitting and deciding sometimes and it encourages me to watch hyped matches. In short, I get a little more wrestling in every week and I am watching quality stuff pretty constantly. When I approach the ocean of wrestling that I have in my office or on the internet I find I don't know what to do. As it turns out, getting turned onto the PWO podcasts, and in turn the board, has really helped with this process, giving me tons of material and motivation to think carefully about what I like about wrestling. I tend to want to articulate crap like that all the time.

 

As for more general stuff, I am really fortunate to be able to set my own schedule (grad student - dissertating), but wrestling has to come after writing and time with my wife. She is pretty tolerant of a match or two here and there (especially if its flippy) but mostly I just find time here and there for a match or two, hence why I have really tried to take steps to maximize my time. I’ll probably never watch all the wrestling I have access to and I will still continue to buy more. That is wrestling though.

[shoe]

I'm single so I don't have to answer to anyone. So I can dedicate a day to watching wrestling. I treat it as a hobby . I committ to a time be it golfing, going out 4 drinks, or wastching wrestling. Part of watching is I set up projects and that helps. For example the Titans or NWA Classics stuff right now because I have people talking about the matches. So hearing real time feedback is very helpful. Plus in Texas it's so hot it makes it an easy choice to stay in and watch footage.

[kaufman316]

Poorly.

Hear, hear - I'm working on 2015 New Japan but keep falling further behind, and will more often than not find myself re-watching fare like Joe Gagne's Funtime Pro Wrestling Arcade (btw their new LoW2 episode is really good). But I'm almost done with the Steve Austin Blu-ray set, so there's that.

[The Chief]

I just wait til winter.

 

I live in upstate New York so the last thing I want to do is watch TV when it's nice out for the limited time it is. I run outdoors so iPad/treadmill/bike is not an option. If I'm working on an art project I'll probably put some wrestling on in the background.

 

When the weather hits 10 degrees for months straight then I'm watching wrestling non-stop.

[Tabe]

My wife goes to bed by 9pm every night and I'm til 1am most nights, so... I have a few hours every night if I so choose. I also have days (sometimes multiple in a row) where I'm basically immobile because of my back. That all adds up to a lot of time to watch TV. I can easily get through 4 hours of classic TV in a single night (like when I was blowing through all the volumes of Power Pro Wrestling that I hadn't yet watched just recently). But then I also go through stretches (like the multi-year stretch I just ended) where I don't watch at all - instead focusing on video games, movies, or TV shows during those hours each night.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

I get obsessive when I watch, or I get into lulls where I don't watch much of anything. I am in the latter right now. It has been a few weeks since I have watched anything.

[concrete1992]

I live in Upstate NY too and I say screw nice weather.

 

But really I have found myself using YouTube more and more to do the rabbit hole method. I have watched enough stuff where the algorithms are already somewhat working so I throw on something that looks real interesting, some theme I want to hit on that night and go through recommended matches for a couple hours. Leads to some neat discoveries of matches I never knew existed. Maybe not the most efficient way to hit things I "should" watch but a great way to sample a style or person.

[Blehschmidt]

I have like 4 multi-disc comps, several years of ECW television, and the occasional shoot interview or PWG show that I pick up that I tend to rotate.

 

If I watch a disc of ECW tonight, the next time I can watch I will pick up a disc of Horseman, etc.

 

It keeps me from getting burnt out on a specific thing.

[dawho5]

I tend to do two or three matches and then something else for a while. It's gotten me through ten discs of the AWA with only a few dalliances into Schneider comps for a bit. At my peak I could do three or four late 90s All Japan matches in a row, but that's a lot to digest in such a short time. I try to keep it a little easier.

[ohtani's jacket]

I try for a match or two a day. Either early in the morning before my wife and daughter get up or late at night after they've gone to bed.

[Exposer]

It's peaks and valleys for me. I'm always up on current WWE. I have an obsessive personality so I'll watch the same wrestler or company over a period of time until I get sick of it. I love too much other stuff like football, basketball, and Netflix. This means I get caught up in those hobbies over wrestling sometimes.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

It's peaks and valleys for me. I'm always up on current WWE. I have an obsessive personality so I'll watch the same wrestler or company over a period of time until I get sick of it. I love too much other stuff like football, basketball, and Netflix. This means I get caught up in those hobbies over wrestling sometimes.

Precisely. My current obsession is Survivor, which is basically wrestling, anyhow. I had never seen an episode and then decided to watch it on Prime on a whim and because my girlfriend likes it. I haven't watched anything else except a preseason football game in three weeks. It's got qualities like absurdity, etc. that also draw me to wrestling in the first place.

 

Once the NFL starts, I probably won't watch anything else.