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(Spoiler Ahead) As one of the most anticipated series ended in a dud, surprising and angering fans across the world, I can’t help but wonder how much time a fan spent watching Game of Thrones. 

I actually watched the first episode many years ago. I remember it being very convoluted and didn’t get hooked, (fortunately for me.)

Leading up to Season 8, many coworkers and friends asked if I watched, I just casually said, “I don’t want to spend X hours watching it.”  

The longer the series lasted, the less likely I wanted to watch it due to what else I can’t do with the time I spend watching it (i.e. the opportunity cost.)

Anyways, I digress. Thanks to Google, a question of “How many hours is Game of Thrones 1-8?” sends me to a convenient website called BingeClock.  

Do you want to take a guess how long Game of Thrones is?

 

 

(Scroll Scroll)

 

 

(Drum Roll)

 

 

3 days and 16 minutes

 

 

Let this sink in – 3 days and 16 minutes, 3 days and 16 minutes!

Can you imagine what you can do in 72 hours and 16 minutes?

• You can watch an educational documentary.
• You can start tracking your expenses and build a budget.
• You can listen to educational podcasts or audio books.
• You can take care of yourself by sleeping and working out more.
• You can learn a valuable skill and find a side hustle.
• You can talk to friends and family not about their lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I have been there myself.

• I was amused through 4 days and 8 hours of mopey Ted Mosby only to find out the Mother died.
• I reveled in 7 days and 5 hours of Castle to be rushed into a hasty 2 minute snapshot of Castle and Beckett having a family.
• And I went through 5 days and 1 hour of “We are on a break” to be led into a predictable ending of Rachel and Ross together. Actually, I did enjoy Friends thoroughly.

We have very little control over how TV shows end, but we have a lot more control over our own health, wealth, and family.

While we can’t change the past, we can take this understanding for the next TV show you want to commit to in the future.

I am not advocating for not watching TV at all, I am advocating being intentional with your initial decision making before getting sucked into another TV show that could have a horrible ending.

Or you could take a page from me: I watched two Game of Thrones episodes – the first one and the last one ¹, and I don’t need to spend another second watching the other 2.8 days worth of episodes.

Your time is too valuable for you to spend 3 days see Bran Stark become the King Bran the Broken… the Broken!!!

And don’t forget to cancel HBO or tell whoever let you use his/her username and password to cancel HBO. HBO deserves it.

1. In case you ask, why did I watch the series finale. My friends invited me to have a few drinks Sunday night. After a glass of Bloody Mary and a glass of Moscow Mule, even if I wanted to leave, I couldn’t.