My YouTube Addiction - what now?
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator reflects on their screen time habits, particularly their heavy use of YouTube despite cutting down on other social media platforms in 2023. They discuss the realization that YouTube can be as addictive as other apps and share their experiences and strategies for reducing screen time, including setting a goal of no more than 2 hours of phone usage per day. The creator also talks about their efforts to be more intentional with the content they consume and seeks audience input on managing screen time and content consumption.
Takeaways
- ๐ฑ The speaker encourages viewers to check their daily screen time and praises those under 2 hours.
- ๐ซ The speaker has consciously avoided social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat in 2023.
- ๐ฅ Despite avoiding social media, the speaker's screen time did not decrease, indicating YouTube was not considered a social media platform.
- ๐บ The speaker spent a significant amount of time on YouTube, sometimes up to 18 hours in a week, which was realized to be excessive.
- ๐ The speaker made excuses for the high YouTube usage, such as listening to podcasts or watching educational content, but acknowledges it was often unnecessary.
- ๐ The speaker delves into the habit of consuming 'junk' content on YouTube, including rabbit holes and true crime stories.
- ๐ The speaker admits that cutting down on other social media did not reduce screen time, as YouTube filled the void.
- ๐ For 2024, the speaker aims to correct the overuse of YouTube and be more intentional with content consumption.
- ๐ The speaker now uses YouTube as a reward system after a productive day, limiting viewing to one video.
- ๐ The speaker mentions the idea of treating video watching as a focused activity, like watching a movie, rather than mindless scrolling.
- ๐ซ The speaker considers deleting the YouTube app to help reduce screen time but has not done so yet, choosing to be more intentional with usage instead.
- ๐ฎ The speaker also mentions the time spent on Reddit and a new game, Polytopia, as additional distractions from reducing screen time.
Q & A
What is the speaker's initial request to the audience before starting the video?
-The speaker asks the audience to pause and check their daily screen time to see if it's under the 2-hour mark.
What does the speaker consider as 'social media' in the context of the video?
-The speaker refers to Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat as social media, excluding YouTube from this category.
Why does the speaker feel that YouTube was not a problem initially?
-The speaker initially thought YouTube was not a problem because it offers long-form content and they felt they were learning valuable things from it.
What was the speaker's realization about their screen time at the end of 2023?
-The speaker realized that despite avoiding other social media platforms, their screen time, particularly on YouTube, did not decrease and was actually a problem.
What specific habit did the speaker develop that they consider unhealthy?
-The speaker developed the habit of using YouTube videos to fall asleep, which they consider unhealthy.
What is the speaker's strategy to make their YouTube consumption more intentional?
-The speaker uses YouTube as a reward system, allowing themselves to watch one history video after a good work day and not being on their phone much.
Why does the speaker believe that watching videos on a laptop is healthier than on a phone?
-The speaker believes it's healthier because it treats the video like a movie, allowing focused viewing rather than mindless scrolling on a phone.
What other platform did the speaker end up spending more time on after cutting down on social media apps?
-The speaker spent more time on Reddit after cutting down on other social media apps.
What game did the speaker download after reading about Elon Musk's recommendation?
-The speaker downloaded the game 'Polytopia' after reading about Elon Musk's recommendation.
What is the speaker's goal for 2024 regarding phone screen time?
-The speaker's goal for 2024 is to cut down on phone screen time to no more than 2 hours a day.
What does the speaker encourage the audience to do in the comments section?
-The speaker encourages the audience to share their feelings about their screen time, tips for cutting down, and whether they feel in control of their content consumption.
Outlines
๐ฑ Excessive Screen Time and YouTube Dependency
The speaker initiates the video by encouraging viewers to check their daily screen time and reflects on their own usage, particularly on YouTube. Despite a conscious effort to avoid social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat in 2023, the speaker's screen time did not decrease significantly due to an increased reliance on YouTube. They initially didn't consider YouTube as a social media platform and justified their extensive usage by claiming to learn valuable information and improve their own YouTube content. However, upon reflection, they realized that much of the time spent on YouTube was unproductive and consumed random, non-essential content. The speaker admits to spending up to 18 hours a week on YouTube, which they now acknowledge as problematic and vows to address in the current year by forming healthier habits and using YouTube more intentionally as a reward rather than a daily habit.
๐ฎ The Impact of Digital Media and the Struggle to Disconnect
In the second paragraph, the speaker discusses the broader impact of digital media on their life, including the struggle to disconnect from YouTube and the discovery of new time sinks such as Reddit and the game Polytopia. They highlight the addictive nature of social media and the difficulty in maintaining control over content consumption, especially when trying to fill the void left by cutting out other platforms. The speaker also contemplates deleting the YouTube app to curb their usage but decides to keep it for now, focusing instead on being more intentional with their content consumption. They share their intention to treat watching videos as a treat rather than a constant activity and express their goal for 2024 to reduce overall phone screen time to no more than two hours per day. The speaker concludes by inviting viewers to share their thoughts and tips on managing screen time and content consumption, emphasizing the importance of intentionality in their digital habits.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กScreen Time
๐กSocial Media
๐กYouTube
๐กContent Consumption
๐กProductivity
๐กIntentionality
๐กHabit Formation
๐กYouTube Shorts
๐กAddiction
๐กPolytopia
๐กReddit
Highlights
The video encourages viewers to check their daily screen time and assess if it exceeds 2 hours.
The creator acknowledges the influence of two YouTubers who inspired the video's theme and will provide links to their videos.
In 2023, a conscious effort was made to avoid social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
Despite avoiding social media, screen time did not decrease, indicating that time spent on YouTube was not initially considered.
YouTube was not categorized as social media by the creator, leading to an increased time spent on the platform.
The creator spent an excessive amount of time on YouTube, sometimes reaching 18 hours in a week.
Excuses were made for the high screen time, such as using YouTube as a podcast or to fall asleep.
The realization that watching YouTube videos was not fulfilling any positive needs in life, despite the content being captivating.
A shift in perspective on the impact of consuming True Crime content and questioning its necessity.
The creator's intention to correct the overuse of YouTube and form healthier habits in the new year.
Implementing YouTube as a reward system for good work days to reduce screen time.
The struggle with being on YouTube daily and the feeling of addiction to the platform.
The creator's consideration of deleting the YouTube app to curb excessive usage.
The unexpected increase in time spent on Reddit as a replacement for other social media platforms.
The discovery of a new phone game, Polytopia, and its potential to disrupt efforts to reduce screen time.
The goal for 2024 is to reduce overall phone screen time to no more than 2 hours per day.
The video serves as a follow-up to the creator's previous video on life changes and being intentional with content consumption.
A call to action for viewers to share their thoughts and tips on managing screen time in the comments section.
Transcripts
so before we get into this video I first
want to ask you to pause and to check
your screen time right now check how
long your screen time is per day if you
are under the 2hour mark good job and
this video probably is not for you if
you are spending more than 2 hours
screen time on your phone every day
let's talk about it I also wanted to
quickly hop in and just say before we
start this video there were two
YouTubers that really inspired this
video for me I think I'll be talking
about a lot of similar things that they
were talking about but wanted to keep
this conversation going so check out
their videos I will link them down below
if you want to learn more and hear
different sides to a similar Topic in
2023 I made a very conscious effort to
avoid social media and by social media I
mean Tik Tok Instagram Facebook Snapchat
Facebook and Snapchat are basically dead
to me um not to be harsh I just realized
that I needed to cut down on these
things and I thought I was doing a
pretty good job at the end of 2023 but
if you actually look at my screen time
it didn't not go down notice how when I
was talking about how I avoided social
media apps I didn't mention
YouTube I personally didn't think
YouTube was like social media I it's
long form content there's some really
cool things I've learned off YouTube I
love posting to YouTube um so I didn't
really think it was a big deal to like
really focus on analyzing how much time
I was spending on YouTube last year
though I think I probably spent the most
time on YouTube in in my entire lifetime
and I think the reason for that was
because I was being so cautious about
spending time on these other social
media apps that then I just like used
YouTube to fill the void like I I spent
way more time on YouTube than I usually
would and um I didn't like to think of
it as like a problem because I still
felt and like to myself I still felt
proud that I was doing better like I
still wasn't going on Instagram for
multiple hours a day or anything like
that but when I reflect on 2023 and how
much time I spent on my phone I realized
it it was a problem you know there were
specifically some weeks I looked at my
screen time and it would say something
like 18 hours on YouTube you know I'm
spending more than a working like a
whole working day just on YouTube
granted I would make excuses like oh
well I like to sometimes like listen to
a podcast on video format on my phone
when I'm working or um I'll use that to
fall asleep which honestly is just like
an unhealthy Habit in general to use a
YouTube video to help me fall asleep but
yeah I'd make excuses like that and be
like oh that's why it's you know 18
hours but it's 18 hours come on and my
other excuses were like oh well um I
love History Channels and I also watch
videos on how to get better at posting
on YouTube or how to improve my
productivity and da d d d da and then I
realized well okay do you need 18 hours
of this material every single week and
if you're really being honest with
yourself there's so much other junk that
you end up consuming probably more than
those videos I go down rabbit holes on
the weirdest things on YouTube I've
learned
about YouTube super beef tea channels
things about celebrities I didn't need
to know I've consumed so much random
content on YouTube and No hate to that
content cuz you know it's captivating it
got me hooked I would go down these
rabbit holes but I I didn't need it for
my own life and it wasn't actually
fulfilling any really positive needs in
my life like for example True Crime that
is something I would watch a lot of True
Crime content do I need to know all
these details about these like graphic
murders or stories no I really don't um
and I really think if I'm honest with
myself about 2023 sure I cut down a lot
on the other social media channels but
did I cut down on YouTube no I probably
went overboard with it and I think
that's why this year I really want to
focus on correcting that problem and uh
you know even now as I'm trying to
correct this issue or I guess form a
healthier habit with YouTube I noticed
that you know I go on YouTube every
single day I don't think there's a
single day I don't check YouTube and yes
I'm posting content on YouTube you know
I'm trying to post twice a week but I
can check that they have like a YouTube
studio um app where you can check like
the analytics and see if any comments
come through I don't need to be on
YouTube every single
day and I do feel a bit like an addict
where I'm trying to like wean myself off
and and fix the habits that I've formed
and and make healthier habits so you
know currently you'll see in my last
video I talk a lot about being more
intentional with the content I consume
and you know I'll now use YouTube as
like a reward system you know I've had a
really good work day I haven't been on
my phone much you get to have one
history video to watch in the evening or
the late afternoon and I feel like that
feels like a healthier way to kind of
detach from constantly being on YouTube
now it's like oh this is like a treat
this is a reward for you know not
constantly browsing now you get to watch
one video and I really try to just like
focus on that video instead of sometimes
I would be on YouTube on my phone I
think the phone is the big problem for
me again hence why I mentioned screen
time I've be watching the video and then
my attention span yes it's long form
content I'm trying to tell myself that
this is like not so bad to consume well
you know the whole time I'm in the
comments reading the comments or if I'm
not in the comments you know the video
is minimized and then I'm back on the
homepage looking for the next video to
click on
like it is crazy actually how social
media gets us so hooked um don't get me
started on YouTube shorts I don't even
think honestly YouTube shorts are that
great as in like the algorithm doesn't
usually find things I'm actually
interested in but I would still just
like be browsing through it so me
cutting out Tik Tok and Instagram didn't
really do much because I'm just
supplementing it now with YouTube and
YouTube shorts so yeah I realize that
YouTube can be a problem um I think it's
a lot healthier for me to watch a video
on my laptop treat it like a movie treat
it like a treat I'm focused on it I'm
watching it versus me scrolling through
my phone non-stop on YouTube and you
know I've really played with the idea of
deleting the app as I mentioned there's
YouTube Studio where I can still see how
my analytics are doing um I've decided
not to delete the app for now because
this week the beginning of 2024 has been
going pretty well with just making sure
I'm more intentional of when I hop on
YouTube and the way I'm consuming
content but I will update you guys you
know if I'm finding it hard to get my
screen time down for YouTube
uh I think I'll have to delete the app I
think that might be the next step and
you know the funny thing is I talk about
you know cutting down on different apps
and everything YouTube was one of the
main app that kind of replaced all the
other social media apps but I also ended
up being someone who read a lot of
Reddit last year I never thought I'd be
a Reddit person as been going on Reddit
a lot again nothing wrong with Reddit I
just didn't think I'd spend that much
time on it but last year I ended up
spending a lot more time on Reddit
because I had cut down on other social
media apps so that's another thing I'm
being careful about this year and then
you know I'll throw this in here as well
this week A new challenge in my life was
I've been cutting down on YouTube I've
already cut down a lot on the social
media apps besides what I'm posting for
my business and stuff I found out in the
recent Elon Musk book that he really
liked a phone game called polytopia um
so I downloaded it cuz I was curious you
know he had like I can't remember was
like seven lessons from polytopia or
something like that I used to love
playing civilization before and if
you're Civ player don't and you get
hooked on it don't play polytopia
polytopia is like the phone game version
of Civ I spent the other night when I
first downloaded it I think I spent like
2 to 3 hours playing it again destroyed
my phone screen time not great and I
will have to delete that app off my
phone you know it hasn't been too bad
this week but I do notice like when I
have downtime and now I'm like oh can't
go on social media can't go on
YouTube Along Comes polytopia
I never have been a big phone game girl
either so it's really interesting these
little things make it harder to cut down
so I think that's why my goal for 2024
is cut down on phone screen time in
general I don't want to be on my phone
for more than 2 hours a day because if
I'm posting stuff for work and
everything even if I'm talking to
friends there's no reason to be on your
phone for more than 2 hours a day unless
you know your job specifically needs
that so yeah this is a little bit of a
ranty video I just wanted it as like a
follow-up for my last video my last
video I talk about how I'm changing my
life this year um the kind of
realizations I've had and how I want to
be more intentional with content I
consume so this is you know a follow- up
on that to me just kind of talking about
why that's so important to me this year
and um I want to hear from all of you in
the comments below that stuck around
that has more than 2 hours every day
spent on their phone how are you feeling
about it what are your tips for cutting
down on you know your screen time do you
feel like you're in control of how much
content you consume I'm really
interested to hear the conversation Down
Below in the comments anyways I will see
you guys all in the next video thanks
for sticking around and uh enjoy the
rest of your week bye
friends
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