How do you decide which movie or TV show you’re going to watch next?
Do you make lists? And if so, how do you organise those lists?
After years of trial-and-error and one-dimensional list making, I now have a solution that works exceptionally well for me. So let’s talk about it.
To get to my current solution I had to solve three problems.
1. Effort required to watch
Some media takes effort to consume, while other stuff is quick and easy to watch.
When I used to have all my movies and TV shows in a single, long list, deciding what to watch next became a chore in itself. As I went through the list, I’d need to keep track of which movies and TV shows I had the mental capacity to enjoy at the time. And because it took so long to pick something, I’d often just end up watching what was being broadcast on one of the movie channels instead – flicking through until I found something interesting enough.
I fixed this problem by grouping my next-watch items into three ‘brain power’ categories: 30%, 60%, and 90% brain. Now, based on how I’m feeling and how much effort I’m willing to expend, I can decide which of those shorter lists to look through. I also maintain separate lists for movies and TV shows, which makes the lists even shorter.
So what do those brain power categories mean?
30% brain
This is stuff that’s easy to watch – low emotional stakes, relatively straightforward plots; usually something fun and quick.
Action and comedy media tends to fall into this category, as does most YA stuff; some talk shows and panel shows too. Most reality TV doesn’t fit here though, since that to me is 10% brain media and I usually get bored watching it.
Some examples of 30% brain media that I’ve enjoyed watching recently are Obliterated, Wednesday, and FUBAR.
These shows might not be 30% brain for everyone, of course. But for someone like me who watches a lot of action and SFF (science fiction and fantasy), they all make for low-effort watching.
60% brain
This is stuff that has a bit of meat on it, but you don’t need to fully invest yourself emotionally to enjoy.
Plot-driven and character-driven action and drama media tends to fall into this category, as well as some SFF stuff with more advanced world building.
Some examples of 60% brain media that I’ve enjoyed watching recently are Reacher, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Fallout.
90% brain
This is stuff takes a bit of effort to enjoy. You need to invest yourself mentally and emotionally, but the resulting payoff is worth it.
The things that fall into this category are advanced drama, action, and SFF. Mostly stuff that you can’t or don’t want to binge-watch.
90% brain media I’ve enjoyed recently: The Peripheral, Shōgun, and Silo.
Yay for Tumblr
This way of categorising content into how much effort it takes to consume comes from Tumblr, by the way. I can’t find the original post (it was from a long time ago), but in it the poster had said they were tired and only had the energy to watch a “30% brain” TV show that night. This method of classification stuck and is now used quite frequently on that social network.
2. Priority-sorted lists
Grouping to-watch items into separate lists doesn’t solve the problem of having to go through each list every time you want to watch a movie or start a new show. So now I prioritise my lists, with the things I want to watch first placed towards the top.
Every now and then I’ll go through each list and re-sort it, moving the items I feel like watching sooner further up the list. This usually happens after I’ve listened to a podcast episode featuring someone who talks about a movie or TV show they were involved with.
3. Search-minimising processes
Maintaining three priority-sorted, brain-power grouped lists – one set for movies and one set for TV shows – didn’t solve all my problems though. I needed to create some additional processes to make everything run smoothly.
I did that by adding three more lists:
Inbox: This is where all new items go if it’s not already clear which brain-power list they should be sorted into.
Waiting: This is where I move TV shows when I’m waiting for the next season to start.
Watch next: This is where I put items that, regardless of brain-power level, I want to watch as soon as possible.
Now the first place I look is the ‘watch next’ list. And as I start to clear this list, I add items from the three brain-power lists to the bottom of this one.
Great success
Screenshot from KanbanFlow
I moved fully over to this system at the end of last year and it has been working incredibly well for me. So much so that a few months ago I adopted the same approach for the books I want to read.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering which tool I use to maintain these lists, I use the free version of KanbanFlow since that has all the functionality I need.
What system do you use for deciding what you’re going to to watch or read next? I’d love to know.