I have stuff in my backlog that has been there for like 15 years. The issue is that it's much easier to watch some middling one cour show that I have zero expectations for and don't mind watching while I eat than it is to sit down and watch something I'm 99% certain I will enjoy a lot but requires more commitment and deserves my full attention.

Seems like a very unusual problem to have. Dropping stuff is extremely easy for me as I forget that I was even watching a show. Starting things remains very difficult, though, so I don't really gain anything from it.

It's easier to watch an episode a week than to binge it all in one or two days.

Just keep watching isekai and battle harems until seeing their tropes played out makes you immediately give up and look at your other monitor. It won't help you get through your backlog, though.

>>111307
tl;dr acquire taste

>>111297
Just follow my 3 easy rules:
1. Preemptively drop all isekais
2. Preemptively drop all LN adaptations
3. Preemptively drop all manga adaptations

I pretty much only pick these back up when other people with more free time than me write great reviews and/or post great clips, e.g. KamiNaki last season.

>>111327
>2. Preemptively drop all LN adaptations
>3. Preemptively drop all manga adaptations
wtf do you watch then

>>111328
Anime originals, VN adaptations, (heavy?) novel adaptations. And I do occasionally pick other stuff back up as previously mentioned.

Be more critical of what you see and you start getting to drop things.
But go too far and you become a cynic.

>>111327
>people with more free time than me
That's an exclusive club.

>>111297
Being able to watch whatever you feel like watching is a blessing even if its not particularly great.
Instead of approaching this with a "cut out" approach, you should instead just put the media you want to consume on a higher priority. If you didn't actually enjoy the stuff you're watching, you probably wouldn't be watching them anyways, right?
If you're somewhere in the phase of learning japanese, try consuming the "lesser" media raw. You won't be too hung up on missing out important details and it'll turn productive.
I had a real hard time enjoying this medium due to wageslavery and I could barely watch shows I know I'd enjoy for a while and only recently have I mended this issue. Obviously, if you feel like you'd rather be enjoying something else, it's a different matter, but if you're trying to enjoy otaku media then cutting out things for weird vague reasons is just retarded.

>>111344
Ironically wageslavery for me made me more able to consume media, the tiredness gave me more focus

>>111329
I forgot about VN adaptations.
Regular novel adaptations must be pretty rare. Legend of Galactic Heroes was one, I don't know of any others.

>>111358
Hikari no Ou was a recent one. Fune wo Amu a while back. Aoi Bungaku but that's kind of cheating. I'm sure there's been others that don't come to mind at the moment.

>>111362
Subete ga F ni Naru

>>111307
I've mostly already achieved that state for the majority of seasonal shows, but still I persist.

>>111297
Use the 3 episode rule. Give a show 3 episodes to meet your expectations, and if it fails to deliver, drop it. The key is to raise your standard of quality, so that only shows that truly impress you make it through the filter. Don't feel pressured to keep up with a show by online hypetrains or "popular" shows, just stick with what you enjoy the most.

Honestly, I've went for years before without even watching seasonals. It's possible you just want to stay current, which is fine, but if you find discipline to be a problem maybe you should take a break from seasonals. List out the top priority shows/games/VNs from your backlog that you absolutely must get through, like the stuff you would feel bad if you died before finishing or trying them, and try to complete that list before watching seasonal anime anymore.