Using Youtube Better

We’ve all been there. You open Youtube intending to watch a couple of videos; but before you know it, four hours has gone by.What happened? Your productivity for the day has taken a major hit. You were sucked into the algorithm. To make things worse, there is no end to the listed videos. When you get near the bottom, more videos load. It’s literally a bottomless pit of videos. Let’s learn about how you can be using youtube better.

It’s worth remembering that when you use Youtube, and social media in general, you’re participating in an attention economy. You pay with your time and attention, instead of money. Before you open Youtube, ask yourself: How much do you want to pay today?

How can you prevent yourself from casually going from one video to the next? In short, you need to take control of your experience. You achieve this by being mindful about the content you choose. Here’s how you can do just that.

The key to using Youtube better understanding there is no silver bullet. You don’t regain control using a single method. Rather, I’ve created a collection of tips, techniques, and strategies that get using Youtube better, and help you to maintain control of your experience.

Watch on Your Laptop

Your phone is ever-present. It’s so easy to go to the next video. To gain control of your time, introduce some friction. Make some rules for yourself. For example, you are only allowed to watch videos on your laptop. It takes more effort to open your laptop, and then your browser, than to use your phone. This friction helps you, because you have a superior watching experience. This lets you focus on the current video, instead of the shiny bobbles in the sidebar. You also have access to other applications, to help you stay focused by limiting your screen time.

Skip the Shorts

Shorts are Youtube’s answer to TikTok. The short video duration, combined with the ease of swiping, makes it easy for Youtube to pull you in. Avoid them all together. Shorts are designed to distract you. Instead, focus on the videos that are between eight minutes and twenty minutes. That’s the sweet spot for quality content. As a general guideline, it’s difficult to provide any depth, for high quality content in a video that’s shorter than eight minutes. In my opinion, twenty minutes is the upper limit for well-organized content. Beyond twenty minutes, people are much more prone to babbling and rambling. Granted, there are always exceptions to every guideline. But if you follow these guidelines you’ll be using youtube better, and you’ll have more control over your time.

When I say the sidebar, I mean the Related Videos that the Youtube algorithm has selected for you. They appear on the right side of the browser window when viewed on a laptop or desktop browser. This is useful for locating the videos that might interest you. You need some variety introduced. The trick is not to be ruled by it. You can also increase your control by using search within Youtube. Being intentional about the videos you load is where you have the most control. Be more specific as you learn more about a subject.

Every creator on Youtube asks you to like and subscribe to their channel. So comply with their request. Be selective in the channels to which you subscribe. Who has a good, sustainable approach? Who is being honest about the content they create? Who walks the walk? Those are the people to follow.Evaluate what they say, and how they say it. Use your attention to follow people with integrity. When you’re more selective about who you listen to, you increase the quality of the content on which you spend your time. Quality over quantity is one of the most important axioms in life.

In the left sidebar, there’s a Subscriptions tab. That’s where you get a dashboard of all the latest videos from your subscribed channels. If there’s one place you should focus your watching, it’s in this tab. It’s filled with the content from the creators you know that you like, while you providing you some variety.

When you are looking into a new topic, you can learn a lot. Survey a few creators for a given topic. Then pick one or two to subscribe to, that best discuss that subject. Choosing a couple of channels will help you focus and provide a deeper understanding of the subject over time.

Take Notes

It’s easy to watch an endless number of videos as a passive observer; Too easy, in fact. Instead of leaning back and listening, take notes and listen actively. This will introduce friction, and that’s good. It forces you to slow down, and really understand. Writing notes is how you can truly learn from Youtube videos. Bonus points if you write the notes with pen and paper. Engaging with the content helps you to maximize the value from it.

Often content creators provide links to resources they mention, and time codes for the chapters in their video. Include this information in your notes, then write your thoughts to fill in the gaps. The best notes include your reflections on the content.

Limit by Time

Time blocking is a time-tested, productivity technique. Using time blocking to control your viewing experience. This is true for any video experience, not just Youtube. An effective way to enforce it, is to set a timer. When the countdown timer hits zero, you know it’s time to move on. Depending upon what you’re doing, set your timer for 30 minutes or an hour. Remember, the goal is to take control of your Youtube experience.

Limit by Video Count

Time isn’t the only way to using Youtube better. You can also limit the number of videos that you watch. For example, say “Tonight, I’m limited to watch 4 videos”. This will depend upon the length of the videos, and the subject of the videos you’re watching.

Tidy Up When You’re Done

One aspect to maintaining a good system, is to insulate one session from the next. Don’t just go back to where you were before. Instead, when you’re done, close out all your browser tabs. This gives you a nice clean slate for the next time you start a session. This keeps you in control of where you want to go next. It also helps your system run better. By letting your browser to clean up after itself, you’ll have better performance and a better user experience.

Conclusion

You’ve read this far, because you want to improve how you spend your time. When you want to improve your productivity, it’s important to separate the things that are real from those that are performative. Spend time on the things that matter. It’s not practical to totally eliminate Youtube. There are some people creating great content. What I hope I’ve instilled within you, is a path to gain control over how you use Youtube. When I don’t follow these guidelines, that’s when I fall down a video rabbit hole. These notes are to help future me, as much as they are to help you improve your experience. If they do help you, let me know.

Using Youtube Better