From Pull to Push

Traditionally we have lived in a world that is much more 'pull' than 'push.' By that, I mean that when we have the time and energy to go rent a movie, buy a video game, or read some news, we go and do so. Now we have services that work in the opposite manner; we pick some things we are interested in (movies to watch, games to play, and types of news to read), and, as they are available, each item is pushed to us. This new model provides an advantage in that users are capable of being exposed to much more than they would otherwise, but it also neglects the user's own capacity at any given period in time.
Personally, I am a member of Netflix, Gamefly, and Bloglines. As a consequence of this "pushing," I began feeling like my recreation was work I had to get done! What's worse, the more you do, the more you have to do, and there's virtually no trail of breadcrumbs to recognize how much you've accomplished. I'm learning to just 'let it go,' but even that feels pretty hard to do. Has anyone else had this experience? What are some possible solutions?