Does anybody know how to waste less time on YouTube lol

  • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
    22·
    6 days ago

    Yeah, use the official client, the stupid stupid ads will annoy you enough to interrupt you in frustration from time to time

    • Dave2@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
      19·
      6 days ago

      Friends invited me to a game of Okey and I can’t really calculate shit well in my head (discalculia, like have you ever divided 6 by 3 and found 3 and thought it was perfectly sensible?) so I had to use my calculator app. I found this a few days after, by then I had forgotten the game (lol), thought a lot about whatever the fuck I did on my calculator for two hours. Had a good laugh when I figured it out

  • li10@feddit.ukEnglish
    24·
    6 days ago

    Uninstall apps then use YouTube via mobile browser.

    The experience is just not as seamless, which makes it easier to disconnect.

    I did something similar with Reddit, I also have Adblock setup on mobile with a custom rule to block Reddit.com. So if I do want to go on reddit, I specifically need to open the Adblock app and go through menus to enable it again.

    And a more abstract answer, find something else to spend your time on.

  • Ark-5@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    7·
    5 days ago

    I use a YouTube front end that doesn’t have a “feed” or algorithm based suggestions page. It only has a subscriptions page and the related videos side bar. I can still definitely go down rabbit holes, but they are often more focused and related to something I’m interested in, rather than devolving to slop.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        5 days ago

        This has been my exit strategy. With no algorithm, I lose interest naturally and instead focus on…

        Well the important thing is that I’m not giving YouTube ad revenue.

  • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
    16·
    6 days ago

    Use Newpipe and only use the RSS based chronological feed for watching stuff. (Or just use a nice rss reader like feeder). Only subscribe to channels that make actual quality videos that you genuinly enjoy or make u learn cool stuff. That got me down to like 2-3 20-40min videos per day. When there is nothing new in your sub feed you stop using youtube. Any channel that frequently posts shorts gets kicked out of the feed.

    • Sand3rs@lemmy.world
      3·
      6 days ago

      This 100%. Have to get away from the recommendation algorithm. I also use leechblock to block the YouTube site indefinitely on firefox and forces me to use the newpipe app (I am a weak person).

      • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
        3·
        6 days ago

        Whatever works. It all takes some degree of self control but thats just how life is i guess. In the end it forced me to find new things or hobbies or try out that game i bought 2 years ago etc.

        Its very different depending on your lifestyle. If you work and have no after work obligations you need a very different system than people that go to school or university that need to study at home.

  • Zagorath@aussie.zone
    13·
    6 days ago

    Switching back to the official app might help. All those shitty ads and inability to PIP would make me spend less time.

    Another option might be to keep using YouTube, but play music with it. Preferably lyricless music like soundtracks, jazz, or classical. Once YouTube is busy playing music it can’t play anything else, and you can do other stuff while listening.

    • Dave2@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
      9·
      6 days ago

      Thank you for replying but god couldn’t force me to use the official app, that’s like a one way to ticket to aneurysm town. I also use VLC so no need for music. But still thankies!!

      • Zagorath@aussie.zoneEnglish
        8·
        6 days ago

        To be clear, my second idea isn’t to use YouTube for music because it’s for music. It’s to use YouTube for music because while listening to music on YouTube you can’t be doing something else on YouTube. It’s essentially a productivity ‘hack’.

  • OrnateLuna@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    10·
    6 days ago

    A bit more practical is just delete all of your history and disable history on YouTube. You won’t get recommendations that way and it will be boring to spend time on youtube

  • Blastboom Strice@mander.xyz
    7·
    6 days ago

    Well what I did 3years ago, really cut down my usage of YT:

    I switched to NewPipe. I got angry with tge deterioration of YT and the fact that they hid dislikes made me angry. So, I deleted the yt app and installed NewPipe. Newpipe doesnt support yt accounts, I was too lazy to add my subscription and set the default screen to an empty screen.

    I used to watch yt for around 2hours per day (~mainly memes, but in the further past I used to watch more sciency-stuff) and now I spend around 15minutes per day (~mainly music or tutorials(?), though, lol, I use other apps/platforms more, like lemmy). I think the fact that the period I deleted YT it was a period of various changes, might helped me change my daily yt consumption too.