Back in the day, people worried about the newly invented television. Would everyone get sucked into the screen, wasting their days away in the living room? Little did they know that soon the world would operate via screens—some in the home and others in your pocket.
Technology gives people more opportunities than ever before. You can easily reach almost anyone in the world by writing an email, sending a text or pinging their social media profiles. There’s an endless world of information to explore and learn from, especially when creators produce daily videos.
Every day, people upload more videos to the internet. YouTube established its presence back in 2005 as a place where you could find any video you wanted (or create videos yourself). The constant stream of entertainment was fun at first, but many now find themselves struggling to walk away from the website.
If you’re trying to do the same, read on to learn how to control your YouTube addiction. It’s a common problem that people don’t often mention to their friends and family. By following these tips, though, you may finally be able to press pause on your watch list and get back to experiencing life with less screen time!
Recognize the problem
The first step to defeating any addiction is to recognize it for what it is. If you watch a couple of YouTube videos on your lunch break at work, that may not be much of a problem to overcome. YouTube addiction more commonly looks like sneaking videos when you’re not supposed to watch them or compulsively looking up more, even when you’re not really interested.
You might spend hours on YouTube and forget about important deadlines, activities with friends or other commitments you’ve made. Maybe you forget to eat for hours on end or neglect your hygiene. Experts define addiction as a complex condition during which a compulsive substance or act takes control of your brain and your life, even when you know it causes more problems than it’s worth.
Think about how often you watch YouTube videos and when you’ve been able to spend time without them. If you rarely go even a few minutes without one playing in your ears or dancing across your screen, recognize the problem and take the following five steps to reclaim your life.
Block the site
There are two main ways to access YouTube—you can view it through the website on your internet browser, or by opening the site’s mobile app. Deleting the app and turning off your computer may not be enough, or even a possibility, if you work on the computer or have your phone on standby because of your family or job.
Instead, you can try one of these site-blocking methods to see which ones work best for you. They all offer something a little different that you can tailor to your needs.
StayFocusd
To defeat your addiction, you may need a task manager to keep you focused. StayFocusd is a Google Chrome extension that can fill that need. Once you download it, you type in the website you want it to block and give yourself a set amount of time per day to spend on that site.
This could help whittle down your time on YouTube without forcing you to stop watching videos overnight. Sometimes a cold stop is harder for people to deal with than gradually reducing their addiction. Maybe you decide you’ll spend one hour per day on the site for the next week. Tell StayFocused about your goal, and after that hour’s up, it will lock you out of the website until 24 hours have passed.
Go into the extension’s settings to hide the tool and make it even harder for you to find it and unblock the website, if you need extra help.
Freedom
If you have $30 USD, you can invest in your well-being by trying Freedom. It’s a program that works on both Windows and Mac operating systems. Once you’ve got it, add YouTube to its domain blocking list and set up a custom schedule. Freedom allows you to make reoccurring sessions so you don’t have to face the challenge of manually blocking and unblocking the site each day.
When you try to go to a blocked website, your screen will glow green and remind you that you’re now free from the site. This is a non-judgmental approach to the harsh connotation of “blocking” a certain domain. Instead, it positively reminds you that there are plenty of other ways to spend your time.
Offtime
Whenever one of your favorite YouTube channels posts a new video, you get a phone notification that’s hard to ignore. It’s instinctual to tap on the bubble and watch the video right away, but Offtime is here to help. Download it to your phone, and it’ll take control of any apps you want to use less frequently, including YouTube.
Let the app know when you want to dedicate time to your work, your family or yourself, and which apps to block during those periods. It’ll easily program your schedule, and it provides helpful data analytics so you can review how much progress you’ve made. This can also help you determine at which hours of the day you’re more likely to watch videos, so you can plan for that in your routine.
Space
Some people prefer to look at a score to see a visual representation of their success. Space (formerly known as BreakFree) does that by calculating your daily usage of any mobile app. While you use it to set goals and monitor how often you spend time on YouTube, you can also review your time on other apps.
Stopping or controlling your YouTube addiction may feel easy when you replace that time with another video app like TikTok. Fortunately, apps like Space will show exactly how you spent the past day that flew by while you were watching videos on any platform.
Delete the app
If you mostly use your phone to watch YouTube, you might feel like there isn’t much to help you out. You can try apps that block the site, but the temptation will still be there, staring at you from your home screen.
If app blockers aren’t enough to help you kick YouTube to the curb, delete the app entirely. Sign out of your app store if you feel like you’ll re-download it. If you don’t have to see it every time you unlock your phone, you’ll spend less time thinking about it.
Replace it with positivity
Now that you’ve blocked the site or app, or have deleted the app off your phone, you’ll have lots of free time on your hands. Spend your first few hours on important responsibilities. Think about any impending deadlines, holidays, trips or meetings you need to plan for. Catch up on anything you’ve put off because you’ve been watching videos.
Next, you’ll need something else to fill your time. Empty hours in your day are no good, because you’ll feel even more tempted to fill the quiet with toxic habits. Instead, replace YouTube with positivity, which is a crucial step in enacting harm-reduction strategies.
You’ll need to create a support process that’s followed by positive reinforcement. Give yourself plenty of ways to reward yourself for time well-spent (in addition to communicating with people who can encourage you). That may look like repeating positive affirmations and phrases when you feel the urge to click on a video. You might take up calming Yoga techniques or practice deep breathing to resist your YouTube addiction.
Try multiple positive efforts to make this experience as encouraging and enjoyable as possible. If you resist the urge to watch videos but spend the rest of the day hating yourself for your addiction, you won’t gain the much-needed self-confidence that helps people grow stronger than their habits.
Turn off your Wi-Fi
If you don’t need to use the internet for work or other time-sensitive responsibilities, cut to the chase. Turn your Wi-Fi off by unplugging your router so you’re one more step away from YouTube. This will block your computer and phone from accessing videos of any form, which may be what you need when you first slow down your YouTube habits.
When you do this, remember other ways you’d typically find videos. Turning off your Wi-Fi won’t stop you from accessing your cellular data, so you should turn that off as well, to avoid falling back on the promise you made to yourself to break and control this addiction.
Learn a new hobby: 6 popular options to try
Once you no longer fly through YouTube’s trending page, you’ll find yourself surrounded by an uneasy sense of quiet. Even if you live with roommates or your family, your mind will need something to do so you won’t go back to relying on videos to get you through the day. The best way to engage yourself in healthier ways is to learn a new hobby.
If you’re not sure where to start, consider these popular hobbies and try them out if you haven’t before. You might think something’s not for you, but you could feel differently once you try it out.
Volunteer within your community
There will always be people who need a helping hand. Build a new group of friends by volunteering within your community. Do some research on your town to look up opportunities like soup kitchens, pet shelters and more. People living near a beach might help rescue sea turtles, and those living farther inland could assist kids while they ride therapy horses.
It all depends on where you live and what’s available around you. If you aren’t interested in what you find, search for groups on social media that post about new volunteer opportunities. That way, you’ll always know where you can go when you want to get out of the house.
Grow a garden
Ever wished you had a green thumb so you could grow a pretty garden? In truth, anyone who has time can kickstart their gardening dreams, whether they live in a house or an apartment. Before you head to the nearest garden shop, however, learn all you can so you set yourself up for success.
Caring for plants as they blossom from seeds to fully mature plants will give you a sense of accomplishment. Instead of wasting hours on videos that do nothing to benefit your life, you’ll make your home prettier, and you may even be able to grow delicious food for yourself and your loved ones.
Take a dance class
Challenge yourself by taking a dance class with a friend or on your own, since exercise helps people battle addiction withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, depression and stress. As you learn how to tango or dance to hip-hop, your body will produce the same endorphins and serotonin you’d get from running on the treadmill. The only difference is that dancing is more fun for most people, and often comes with better music than what plays at the gym.
Go to the library
Take your mind away from situations where all you can think about is YouTube by reading a book. Don’t stay at home to do it, either. Head to the library and settle into a quiet, comfy nook. You’ll keep yourself away from electronics and thrive in an environment that promotes the reading experience. Once you find a story that hooks you, your mind will be entirely absorbed, and you’ll forget about wanting to watch new videos.
Pick up an instrument
You might watch YouTube because you discover videos that challenge your mind, but you can keep that going after you’ve signed off. Pick up an instrument you’ve never learned and consider taking lessons with a professional. You can fill your hours with practice and block out those thoughts that drive you to your computer.
Enroll in school
Another way to challenge yourself in positive ways is to enroll in school. Find a community college course that teaches Yoga, cooking or another life skill you’ve always been interested in. You can take it for the semester and move on when you finish. Community colleges often offer classes that don’t require two to four years of your life, and they typically cost much less than those available at universities.
Give yourself time
Some people will brag about how they quit their addictions overnight, and if that’s true, good for them. Most individuals need more time to break bad habits, especially if we’re talking about a habit you’ve relied on for years. Give yourself time to adjust to your new way of living.
Encourage yourself with positive affirmations, find new hobbies and surround yourself with people who are supportive. When you’re not alone and bored, you’ll find it’s easier to control your YouTube addiction and get your life back.
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изображение 1: Pixabay; 2: Pixabay; 3: Пиксабей
