Is this something to consider?

[oldSock]

hi everyone,

 

First and foremost, if you get triggered by posts i recommend you should rather skip this one.

 

The subject matter is not really about YouTube or the creators but rather focus on myself as

the consumer of content and how it is effecting me and what my conclusions are.

 

For the rest of you that took the time to read this thank you for keeping an open mind.

 

 

So its 2020 and if your year was anything like mine it was probability a stressed cluster Ⅎ‾ɔʞ and not something i would like to have a repeat of.

 

In this post i am going to address something i have noticed over the years of consuming YouTube content.

 

First and foremost, i asked myself a simple question "Why am i still watching YouTube?"

To be clear many creators do a lot to bring out the best quality and content they can. But at the same time i see many of them are just tired. 

Others really don't care what they upload and hardly put in any effort at all. Still this is not about mud slinging this about addressing a very

serious question.

 

How much time do i spend watching content, reading content or listening to content. Well turns out i spend a lot more time on it then i care

to mention and to the point it is worrying because every hour i spend on this content is an hour lost in anything else. 

 

So i looked in the mirror like I did in the past when i was still an alcoholic and a smoker. Is this my new addiction? As someone who has been

addicted to something and realized a scary truth. i am factually hooked on content consumption. So i decided i will work on this and rather

spend the time growing my new business rather then watching video after video. In short to put it in perspective. i spend about 8 hours just

randomly watching anything i considered to be a distraction.

 

That 8 hours is 8 hours no work was done, no studies was done. Fact is i didn't do a thing worth noting.

 

So what is the big deal?

 

Well since "to my knowledge" where i live internet addiction isn't officially recognized. That said i know myself and i know an addiction when

i see it.

 

So i setup a website blocker and i realized it was irritating me to the extreme because i had to enter in a code to see a YouTube. It was at

this point i realized that yes i think this might be a problem for me. It is a problem for my productivity.

 

So i ordered some parts and will be setting up a few physical devices to start actively blocking websites and streaming services. This

means i will not have a convenient way to get to YouTube.

 

Right oldSock your stupid idiot why did you feel this is important, why should we care?

 

Well just keep a simple log on how much content you consume. Calculate the hours of the log and then put whatever you get paid per

hour and see how valuable this becomes. Then you can start calculating how many hours per month and even per year you are losing. 

 

It becomes scary and fast. Now i personally don't use YouTube for education BUT i know many of my friends do so that might be a

problem for them to block it outright. Honestly i don't know of a good solution for them unless the device can have rule to allow ONLY

that YouTube. Again something i need to figure out.

 

But seriously, do look at it. It is really  scary how much can be lost.

 

 

 

Anyhow be safe

thank you for reading.

 

 

[Sarra]

Have you considered finding someone professional that could help you? Counselor or therapist? Personally, I would start there.

 

I think I got lucky; when I was younger, I recognized that I was getting addicted to computer games, and gradually was able to get myself out of the self destructive loop that that would entail.

 

I still love gaming, but when my alarm goes off for me to leave for work, it's not that hard to just shut it off and leave. I also built in some extra buffer time, so if I need a few minutes to get to a save point or whatever, it doesn't cause me problems or extra stress.

 

As for youtube, and content in general, I don't really have a personal problem with it. For me, Youtube is just something in the background most of the time, something to listen to while gaming.

[tommy2712]

Some people read books, some people binge watch TV shows, some people work out...

It's just what you enjoy doing in your free time. It's not an adiction if you finish your responsibilities first.

[whm1974]

If I may ask, how old are you?

[dizmo]

Sounds like you need therapy. 

[Orange1]

7 hours ago, oldSock said:

So i looked in the mirror like I did in the past when i was still an alcoholic and a smoker. Is this my new addiction? As someone who has been

addicted to something and realized a scary truth.

You just swapped addictions, for some its food, for others its gambling or working 120hrs/week. Addictive minds in the past, have addictive minds in the present.

 

7 hours ago, oldSock said:

So its 2020 and if your year was anything like mine it was probability a stressed cluster Ⅎ‾ɔʞ and not something i would like to have a repeat of.

No, not particularly stressful. We have a thread on what your talking about.

 

 

7 hours ago, oldSock said:

i am factually hooked on content consumption. So i decided i will work on this and rather

spend the time growing my new business rather then watching video after video. In short to put it in perspective. i spend about 8 hours just

randomly watching anything i considered to be a distraction.

Yeah please dont continue to watch youtube 8 hours a day, working on your business would be healthier.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, oldSock said:

Well just keep a simple log on how much content you consume.

Not just watching stuff but also playing console/pc games is real destructive especially in the early years, pre-teen years and teenage years. Their development of social skills decreases, thats why I like sports, like real live sports, the hockey team, soccer, baseball, meetups.com for some group bicycle rides.

 

7 hours ago, oldSock said:

It becomes scary and fast. Now i personally don't use YouTube for education BUT i know many of my friends do so that might be a

problem for them to block it outright. Honestly i don't know of a good solution for them unless the device can have rule to allow ONLY

that YouTube. Again something i need to figure out.

 

But seriously, do look at it. It is really  scary how much can be lost.

 

 

 

Anyhow be safe

thank you for reading.

Well its good to watch a youtube to learn how to fix a leaky faucet, or change out a shower head, or how to fix a fuel injection unit on an engine. You can setup certain hours the router is connected to the internet, its called parental controls. I am sure you can find same controls for certain websites or programs. Wouldnt be that hard, I am almost certain its available out there.

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

12 hours ago, oldSock said:

But seriously, do look at it. It is really  scary how much can be lost.

This is exactly why I barely watch yt, I feel like it's a massive waste of time... 

You could say the same about playing video games probably, but I feel that is different, could I spend my time for something "better"? Yes probably, but at least I'm actively doing something instead of passive consumption, also I use a lot of mods, sometimes make my own or "mod" mods to my liking... so I'm actually learning something *while* playing video games... 

 

(BTW I will not play a game that has no mods, it just won't happen, except for emulation, I understand it's difficult to have mods for those sometimes, and it's also fun to experience older games as closely as they were meant to be for me...) 

 

 

Yeah, yt is not a "good addiction" to have at all... Basically you sell your soul to Google. Good luck with that ~

 

 

PS: I do watch sometimes, 1-2 hours per week, usually either Steve "let's throw some ice on it" Tech Jesus, LTT (which honestly keeps getting worse, I don't know why... Maybe burn out... Actually, that's likely...) or Jayz2cents, the dude is my fav, he's so straight forward, I really like it. 

 

I also sometimes watch Monster Hunter videos, usually looking for strats, setups, etc... 

I do however much prefer Bilibili, it's not as "commercial" as yt, it's also not owned by google, so that's an easy feat... 

 

Also only watch 1-2 hours / week on average tho, there are weeks I don't watch at all, especially because I know the content I want to watch usually takes some time to be made (weeks) so it's not really worth it checking every day either way... 

 

Yeah, as I said, good luck and it's good you're at least aware of your unhealthy addiction (there are also healthy addictions imo, but those are *rare*) 

[Mark Kaine]

4 hours ago, Orange1 said:

You just swapped addictions, for some its food, for others its gambling or working 120hrs/week. Addictive minds in the past, have addictive minds in the present.

That seems about right. However do keep in mind, everyone has an addiction (at least) it's just some are more socially accepted or simply less "damaging" than others... 

 

It's totally normal to go from one addiction to another therfore. 

 

Thats also why I say it's important to look for "healthy" addictions, even tho that's kinda an oxymoron, there's still some truth to it imo. 

 

[Sarra]

Just now, Mark Kaine said:

That seems about right. However do keep in mind, everyone has an addiction (at least) it's just some are more socially accepted or simply less "damaging" than others... 

 

It's totally normal to go from one addiction to another therfore. 

 

Thats also why I say it's important to look for "healthy" addictions, even tho that's kinda an oxymoron, there's still some truth to it imo. 

 

I thought I was 'safe' with just having a Soda addiction.

 

Now I'm fat, and my stomach is a mess.

 

Truthfully, neither of those is the direct fault of soda, however, soda definitely contributed to both issues. Cutting it out, however, hasn't helped, either... Meh. There's always diet soda.

[Orange1]

40 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

However do keep in mind, everyone has an addiction

No, not everyone has an addiction.

 

More people have addictions today then in the past, for sure but no not everyone has an addiction.

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

48 minutes ago, Orange1 said:

No, not everyone has an addiction.

Yeah, sure, keep telling that yourself lol. 

 

 

[oldSock]

Great to see the positivity, thank you.

 

Yea i got my parts and yes as far as i can tell i can setup viewing hours and more to the point setup some rules as well. Now how all this will work i will have to learn. But this is cool because first step is to realize that there is a problem second step is to become proactive. So thanks to all this stuff happening going to group meetings will not be a thing for now. But i am treating this like a tobacco addiction.

 

Since this is not my first time dealing with addiction in general i have a good idea where to start. What to do and more to the point take control. 

 

So after I configured the new hardware i will install it and start to focus on my business. My survival should take priority anyway so this is not a "big" sacrifice but i just wanted to point out that i didn't even realized it was a problem until i did. Scary stuff. Well thank you all for the good tips and sharing your opinion it was really great reading them.

 

please be safe

take care.

[eeeee1]

god bless you op. post is too long for me rn but sounds distressing. godspeed lieutenant.

[PiberiusWilde]

Well being stressed out is more of a thing right since the pandemic

 

Solution???

 

Well everyone has their own ways. For me I get on to my motorcycle and took-off at full throttle from the get go. For me travelling at high speed especially when not wearing helmet (not recommended) is really fun and can relief most of the stress.

 

Also helping people on this forum is also very relaxing.

[Mihle]

I will reccomended a program called Cold Turkey for your computer.

You can use it to block spesific things on a schedule, that way, if you want to, you can still allow half an hour or whatever of YouTube every day, or simply block it forever.

With that program you can't really just turn it off either, if you just uninstall it while a block is active it stays blocked, at least is supposed to.

 

There is a way to get around a block but it's not simple, so it can be enough to stop you, it has been for me, it helped me lower my time spent on news sites a while back, I wasn't as extreme in it tho.

 

Haven't found anything similar for phones tho, probably the reason why I am not productive/do better things than I do to and from work...

 

Also, being addicted to watching videos or whatever is better than being addicted to alcohol or smoking.

 

[oldSock]

6 hours ago, Mihle said:

I will reccomended a program called Cold Turkey for your computer.

You can use it to block spesific things on a schedule, that way, if you want to, you can still allow half an hour or whatever of YouTube every day, or simply block it forever.

With that program you can't really just turn it off either, if you just uninstall it while a block is active it stays blocked, at least is supposed to.

 

There is a way to get around a block but it's not simple, so it can be enough to stop you, it has been for me, it helped me lower my time spent on news sites a while back, I wasn't as extreme in it tho.

 

Haven't found anything similar for phones tho, probably the reason why I am not productive/do better things than I do to and from work...

 

Also, being addicted to watching videos or whatever is better than being addicted to alcohol or smoking.

 

yea so since my phone is running on my wifi it will be blocked from YouTube and other streaming services. Mobile data is really expensive in my side of the world so it is dependent on my wifi. Also i don't use public wifi for many reasons.  To boost myself to keep to this i decided i can really exercise a bit more so i will be doing that. Also i can do with a bit more energy so i am looking at my diet as well. i just want 2021 to have the best possible chance to be a good one unlike 2020 so i am really proactive now. i think this change is going to be good. i honestly hope so.

[Mark Kaine]

8 hours ago, Mihle said:

I will reccomended a program called Cold Turkey for your computer.

You can use it to block spesific things on a schedule, that way, if you want to, you can still allow half an hour or whatever of YouTube every day, or simply block it forever.

With that program you can't really just turn it off either, if you just uninstall it while a block is active it stays blocked, at least is supposed to.

 

There is a way to get around a block but it's not simple, so it can be enough to stop you, it has been for me, it helped me lower my time spent on news sites a while back, I wasn't as extreme in it tho.

 

Haven't found anything similar for phones tho, probably the reason why I am not productive/do better things than I do to and from work...

 

Also, being addicted to watching videos or whatever is better than being addicted to alcohol or smoking.

 

Samsung phones have something like this, not sure how effective it is but better than nothing I suppose? 

 

 

Turned it off immediately because it's also highly annoying and I don't like all the handholding nonsense devices seem to deploy on the user nowadays. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[TargetDron3]

I usually only have youtube running in the background as noise. 

I'll listen to Simon Whistler videos, or Issac Arthur all day long while working or doing something else. 

There's only 1 channel that i watch all his videos, but i don't keep up to the day with them. 

It's just like anything else. Moderation. The fact that you see a problem is good and helps in fixing it. But it sounds like you have addiction issues in general, so i would suggest youtubing some videos about gardening and getting into that :-). 

 

[PeachGr]

You can say that youtube is a waste of time because you can always do something better and that's true
Also you can't work for 24 hours, neither you can workout, learn new things or whatever.
Organize your time is better.
Do your work for as much time it takes, help yourself however you thing is propper, if it is either athetisism, learnig a new language or whatever and with the remaining hours you will have fun.
Now if fun for you is youtube or Netflix so be it

[oldSock]

5 hours ago, PeachGr said:

You can say that youtube is a waste of time because you can always do something better and that's true
Also you can't work for 24 hours, neither you can workout, learn new things or whatever.
Organize your time is better.
Do your work for as much time it takes, help yourself however you thing is propper, if it is either athetisism, learnig a new language or whatever and with the remaining hours you will have fun.
Now if fun for you is youtube or Netflix so be it

Time allocation is probably one of the best ways to combat this situation. I 100% agree with that. Working out a schedule isn't that hard committing to it  however demands dedication. Now for me personally dedication is willpower+Energy. If i am tired all the time i am less lightly to commit. So for me the basics are rest the mind then provide the body with enough healthy fuel and for me personally this worked well in the past and i feel it will be a good start. To be clear we are all individuals so what works for me may not work for the next person.

 

So i killed off All forms of streaming and learned a few new tricks along the way. Was fun to play around with the router settings and looking forward to build my own firewall. This will be a long term project as i am sure i will mess-up in the beginning. But really taking control is important.

 

Anyhow it was cool to see all the positive feedback on this subject and it was really cool to just build on good ideas that was shared here. Thank you for that.

Is much appreciated

[big oof 1]

you could also try setting up a standing desk or treadmill in fron of your screen so if you really want to watch youitube at least you can say you did something productive.  Also if your phone distracts you can get one of those kitchen safe lock boxes and loc your phone away for like 25 minutes if you feel its distracting you from work.

[RageTester]

There are plenty of educational, tutorial, DIY videos. But yeah most of YouTube is just clickbait...

I  mostly use YouTube for finding new music.

 

You could try audio only and working while listening to something in the background, that would also save hardware and battery life. If author is really doing his job properly you should be able to tell what is happening in video without seeing it.

[jNishant023]

On 11/15/2020 at 12:41 AM, oldSock said:

hi everyone,

 

First and foremost, if you get triggered by posts i recommend you should rather skip this one.

 

The subject matter is not really about YouTube or the creators but rather focus on myself as

the consumer of content and how it is effecting me and what my conclusions are.

 

For the rest of you that took the time to read this thank you for keeping an open mind.

 

 

So its 2020 and if your year was anything like mine it was probability a stressed cluster Ⅎ‾ɔʞ and not something i would like to have a repeat of.

 

In this post i am going to address something i have noticed over the years of consuming YouTube content.

 

First and foremost, i asked myself a simple question "Why am i still watching YouTube?"

To be clear many creators do a lot to bring out the best quality and content they can. But at the same time i see many of them are just tired. 

Others really don't care what they upload and hardly put in any effort at all. Still this is not about mud slinging this about addressing a very

serious question.

 

How much time do i spend watching content, reading content or listening to content. Well turns out i spend a lot more time on it then i care

to mention and to the point it is worrying because every hour i spend on this content is an hour lost in anything else. 

 

So i looked in the mirror like I did in the past when i was still an alcoholic and a smoker. Is this my new addiction? As someone who has been

addicted to something and realized a scary truth. i am factually hooked on content consumption. So i decided i will work on this and rather

spend the time growing my new business rather then watching video after video. In short to put it in perspective. i spend about 8 hours just

randomly watching anything i considered to be a distraction.

 

That 8 hours is 8 hours no work was done, no studies was done. Fact is i didn't do a thing worth noting.

 

So what is the big deal?

 

Well since "to my knowledge" where i live internet addiction isn't officially recognized. That said i know myself and i know an addiction when

i see it.

 

So i setup a website blocker and i realized it was irritating me to the extreme because i had to enter in a code to see a YouTube. It was at

this point i realized that yes i think this might be a problem for me. It is a problem for my productivity.

 

So i ordered some parts and will be setting up a few physical devices to start actively blocking websites and streaming services. This

means i will not have a convenient way to get to YouTube.

 

Right oldSock your stupid idiot why did you feel this is important, why should we care?

 

Well just keep a simple log on how much content you consume. Calculate the hours of the log and then put whatever you get paid per

hour and see how valuable this becomes. Then you can start calculating how many hours per month and even per year you are losing. 

 

It becomes scary and fast. Now i personally don't use YouTube for education BUT i know many of my friends do so that might be a

problem for them to block it outright. Honestly i don't know of a good solution for them unless the device can have rule to allow ONLY

that YouTube. Again something i need to figure out.

 

But seriously, do look at it. It is really  scary how much can be lost.

 

 

 

Anyhow be safe

thank you for reading.

 

 

Absolutely correct.

I myself am an addict of content consumption. I have seen my addiction get the worst of me. I have used my phone and PC even when my eyes hurt like hell.

I play Valorant and CSGO both daily for 3-4 hrs. I attend my college classes and the rest of the time, I am reading manga or watching YouTube. I fricking know I am an addict but I just can't help myself as I love all of the activities so much. I am now(since yesterday) getting back in practicing programming on Leetcode and other competitive coding websites which I stopped due to my same additction.

After reading your post, I decided to share my story as well. Get some hobby like playing guitar( I do), playing chess or any other thing which keeps your eyes off the devices. I have also noted restlessness when sitting doing nothing (I always look at something or just play songs) and  trouble falling asleep without getting my eyes tired from my phone and PC. This is worrying me more as I write Just control yourself as I will try to do from now on...

[Zusafek]

@oldSockI myself being a former smoker understand addiction.  I personally use youtube about 6 hours a day on average after I finish my job for the day.  It's my main means of entertainment when I'm not working.  And unfortunately, I can not use the math formula to calculate how much money I lose during the time I'm watching YouTube. I'm paid a percentage of the load that I'm hauling. 

[MathewBijuBuz]

On 11/14/2020 at 11:11 PM, oldSock said:

hi everyone,

 

First and foremost, if you get triggered by posts i recommend you should rather skip this one.

 

The subject matter is not really about YouTube or the creators but rather focus on myself as

the consumer of content and how it is effecting me and what my conclusions are.

 

For the rest of you that took the time to read this thank you for keeping an open mind.

 

 

So its 2020 and if your year was anything like mine it was probability a stressed cluster Ⅎ‾ɔʞ and not something i would like to have a repeat of.

 

In this post i am going to address something i have noticed over the years of consuming YouTube content.

 

First and foremost, i asked myself a simple question "Why am i still watching YouTube?"

To be clear many creators do a lot to bring out the best quality and content they can. But at the same time i see many of them are just tired. 

Others really don't care what they upload and hardly put in any effort at all. Still this is not about mud slinging this about addressing a very

serious question.

 

How much time do i spend watching content, reading content or listening to content. Well turns out i spend a lot more time on it then i care

to mention and to the point it is worrying because every hour i spend on this content is an hour lost in anything else. 

 

So i looked in the mirror like I did in the past when i was still an alcoholic and a smoker. Is this my new addiction? As someone who has been

addicted to something and realized a scary truth. i am factually hooked on content consumption. So i decided i will work on this and rather

spend the time growing my new business rather then watching video after video. In short to put it in perspective. i spend about 8 hours just

randomly watching anything i considered to be a distraction.

 

That 8 hours is 8 hours no work was done, no studies was done. Fact is i didn't do a thing worth noting.

 

So what is the big deal?

 

Well since "to my knowledge" where i live internet addiction isn't officially recognized. That said i know myself and i know an addiction when

i see it.

 

So i setup a website blocker and i realized it was irritating me to the extreme because i had to enter in a code to see a YouTube. It was at

this point i realized that yes i think this might be a problem for me. It is a problem for my productivity.

 

So i ordered some parts and will be setting up a few physical devices to start actively blocking websites and streaming services. This

means i will not have a convenient way to get to YouTube.

 

Right oldSock your stupid idiot why did you feel this is important, why should we care?

 

Well just keep a simple log on how much content you consume. Calculate the hours of the log and then put whatever you get paid per

hour and see how valuable this becomes. Then you can start calculating how many hours per month and even per year you are losing. 

 

It becomes scary and fast. Now i personally don't use YouTube for education BUT i know many of my friends do so that might be a

problem for them to block it outright. Honestly i don't know of a good solution for them unless the device can have rule to allow ONLY

that YouTube. Again something i need to figure out.

 

But seriously, do look at it. It is really  scary how much can be lost.

 

 

 

Anyhow be safe

thank you for reading.

 

 

There is a FIX.

DON'T WATCH YOUTUBE.

 

Ok jokes aside. Quitting YouTube outright is very very very hard. You should keep a reward system. We Humans thrive on Dopamine.

Think of it like this, Humans do various Jobs. Why do humans do Jobs? Primarily to earn money. You can use the same concept in life. Whenever you do something productive do something that gives that sweet sweet dopamine.

Application in real life: You can treat yourself with 15 mins of YouTube for every hour of work you do. Keep in mind that you watch YouTube at night after you complete all your work for the day for this to work properly or else you will get sidetracked.

Also Remember, The ratio can be even less or more. But keep it reasonable. Also if your suffering from drug or alcohol addiction please don't use this method as it is encouraging you to do something which will lead harm to your body.