1. The decision
So you have some free time and decide to look for a show to watch on Netflix. Seems innocent enough, right? WRONG. Good luck to you thinking once you hit that play button you will be productive at all.
2. The pilot
After you spend about thirty minutes scrolling for a new show to start watching, you watch the pilot. This is where you get to be the judge and either decide to give it a shot, or kill even more time searching for yet another show.
3. The build up
So you finally find a show that you like, but you’re still confused on what the story line is going to be. So you decide to succumb to the suggestion to “play next episode” because you just have to figure out who each character is.
4. The black hole
You’re screwed at this point. Before you even know it its 2 a.m. and you know you have to get up in the morning for school/work but you don’t even care. You have to see what happens next.
5. The commitment
You already sucked yourself deep into the hole, so now you feel the need to commit to finishing off at least the rest of the season. But how dare they, they left the season finale on a cliffhanger? Better preview the season 2 opener to see how it ended!
6. Becoming one with Netflix
You and Netflix aren’t even dating, you’re married. You don’t even know what episode you’re on anymore, you just let the 15 seconds count down to the next episode, and every so often click that yes, you are still watching. At this point your carrying around your laptop with you to cook meals, and you base doing anything (even showering) off of how many minutes you have left in that episode.
7. Bargaining
You’ve noticed that you’ve lost complete track of time and need to become a productive member of society. Your friends haven’t heard from you, and are wondering where you are since you’ve been living out of your bedroom for days, watching season after season. You tell yourself this’ll be the last episode so you can go outside and breathe fresh air for the first time in days.
8. Mourning the end of the binge
You know your attempt to stop binge watching was just short of a success. So now you’ve come to either the end of the series, or the end of episodes currently on Netflix. What are you to do with your time now? You committed yourself and all of your time for that show and now its just…done?
9. Emerging back into society
So you finally decide to rid the plates and silverware out of your room and take a shower. You ease back into your regular daily routine, and, just as soon as you get your life back together, a new show sparks your interest.
Aaaaand were back to step two.