Whatever you’re looking for, you can find it on YouTube. If you’re looking for nothing, that’s there too! YouTube can be a great place for learning, entertainment, keeping up on events, or just checking out for a bit. It can also be a place where time seems to follow its own rules.
It can be all too easy to lose hours in the app. So if you feel like you’re wasting too much time on YouTube, you’re not the only one. Fortunately, it offers tools that you can use to maintain healthy use patterns.
1. Understand How You Use YouTube
The first step to improving your habits is understanding what your habits are now. Fortunately, there’s an in-app tool for tracking how much time you spend watching videos – it’s one ofYouTube’s coolest hidden features.
With the app open, tap your profile picture in the upper right to open up your account dashboard and scroll down toTime watched. This gives you a handy bar graph showing how long you’ve spent on the platform, each of the last seven days.
Be aware, however, the tool doesn’t keep track of when those minutes were logged. It is also based entirely on your watch history, so if your watch history is paused or you’re spending time in YouTube’s Incognito mode, this tool won’t tell you very much.
2. Use YouTube’s Bedtime Reminder
If you find yourself watching YouTube videos when you should be sleeping, the app can give you a gentle reminder to log off and try to get some rest. Open your account dashboard again, then selectSettings,General, and thenRemind me when it’s bedtime.
This looks like a simple toggle switch, but once you turn it on, you can customize it a little more. You can set the times when you want the settings to be active, or if you alreadyuse bedtime mode on your phone, YouTube will use those same parameters that you already have established.
3. Let YouTube Remind You to Take Breaks
If you follow that same pathway to yourGeneral Settings,Remind me to take a breakis the top option. This creates a gentle reminder similar to the bedtime reminder but based on how long you’ve been in the app rather than what time it is. After all, YouTube can be a productivity killer during the day as well as keeping you up at night.
When you turn this toggle switch on, scroll through hour and minute lists to determine how long you want to spend on YouTube before it sends a break reminder. You can set the clock for as little as five minutes, but remember that this includes the time you spend browsing videos, not just how long a video is playing.
When this alarm does go off, you have the option to simply dismiss it or go back into the settings to adjust it for a time that makes more sense for you.
4. Narrow Down Your YouTube Notifications
It can be easier to ignore YouTube if the app isn’t constantly sending you notifications. While you probably want to get some notifications from YouTube, paring down others can help you keep your mind focused on other things. There are two ways to do this, one way that’s faster, easier, and more general, and another way that takes more time but can be more precise.
You can control notifications at the app level by navigating back to your accountSettingsand scrolling down toNotifications. Here, you can control what sorts of things YouTube notifies you of. Or, scroll all the way down, selectDisable sounds & vibrations, and then select hours that you want YouTube to leave you alone.
Alternatively, you’re able to open up your account dashboard again and then selectYour channel. Scroll down a little to see all of yourSubscriptions, with a bell icon next to each. Tap the bell icon for a popup menu that lets you select whether you want to receive all notifications from each channel, no notifications from each channel, or a specialized set of more limited notifications.
5. Change How You Receive Notifications
If you want to keep receiving all of your notifications but don’t want them to pose a constant distraction, you may choose to get all of your notifications batched together in a “daily digest.” Return to yourNotificationssettings and turn on the top toggle switch forScheduled digest.
Keep What Works, Change What Doesn’t
YouTube isn’t a bad app, but it’s pretty easy to misuse. Despite one’s best intentions, it can be easy to get pulled into the app and lost within for longer than might best serve us. Fortunately, the app itself offers useful tools to help ensure that you use the app rather than letting it use you.
