What to do with the time saved by your DVR

A one-hour TV show contains 22 minutes' worth of commercials. Half-hour shows serve up eight minutes of ads. If you watch two hours of TV per night, you're wasting anywhere from 32-44 minutes on commercials.

By adopting a digital video recorder (such as a TiVo, Media Center PC, or DVR from your cable company), you can instantly jump past those commercials--and get that wasted time back. Here are some suggestions for what to do with those "found" minutes:

• Read for pleasure - You always complain that you never have time, right? Now's your chance.
• Run around outside with the kids - Treasure these moments while you can; they'll have outgrown this kind of playtime before you know it. Plus, it's extra exercise for you and them--always a plus.
  
• Sleep more - Who couldn't use a little extra sleep?
• Listen to music - Put your headphones on, fire up the iPod, and sit in a comfy chair. Seriously, when was the last time you just sat and listened to music, without doing something else at the same time? It's an underrated indulgence.
• Accomplish something - Clean out your car, organize your desk, pull some weeds, or whatever. You get deep satisfaction from accomplishing a small but necessary task.
• Call your mom - I'll bet she'd love to hear from you.