How To Set a YouTube Time Limit To Boost Productivity

Content

1. Introduction
2. Why You Need To Limit Time On YouTube
3. Essential Features for an Effective YouTube Time Limit
4. Creating Your YouTube Time Limit
5. Measuring Your Success
6. Conclusion

Introduction

Did you know the average person spends nearly 2 hours on YouTube daily? With the growing use of social media, YouTube has become a necessity for many people. Even though it may seem like a great source of entertainment, it’s stopping us from achieving our goals.

Imagine being able to regain this time, and use it to achieve your goals. This is why you need a YouTube time limit. In this article, we’ll show you exactly how to set a YouTube time limit so you can control your time and use your regained time to make your dreams become a reality.

Why You Need To Limit Time On YouTube

In just 5 years, social media has transformed our daily routines. It’s now normal to spend hours upon hours scrolling on your phone. With generations becoming less productive and more prone to procrastinate, there needs to be a solution, so you can go from using it constantly, to channelling it into your work, study or hobbies. In return, you become better and achieve your goals without days flying past and deadlines getting closer.

Let’s be honest, we all enjoy watching a quick video, and that’s alright. But when we’re spending hours of our day behind our screens it can quickly cost us, even if we don’t realise it. YouTube has perfected their algorithm, showing us content they know we want to watch, to keep us hooked and spend more and more time watching videos.

I experienced this first-hand. I used to spend hours on YouTube and now, wishing I could tell my younger self what I’ve learnt, I have overcome this. Hours on YouTube, with nothing to show for it. I could’ve spent that time making money, going to the gym, or pretty much anything else which would make me a better person. But instead, I stayed in my comfort zone on YouTube.

Essential Features for an Effective YouTube Time Limit

Since we've established the need to limit your time on YouTube, let's explore the essential features you need to help you save time on YouTube.

1. Simplicity - You shouldn't need to spend more time setting it up and using it, after all, you're trying to save time. The perfect solution must be easy to use, and work quietly in the background without continuous work.
2. Daily Limits - Setting an allocated amount of time for YouTube each day is perfect for maintaining a healthy digital well-being. You can outline the time you want to spend, and if you exceed it, be prompted to stop.
3. Breaks - Breaking up your time on YouTube into smaller manageable chunks is one of the easiest ways to spend less time on it. With customised breaks, you'll be reminded to stay focused and less likely to give in and watch another video.
4. Channel Limits or Specific Video Genre Limits - If you can identify specific channels or types of videos which you spend the most time watching, you can limit them to avoid spending the majority of your time on something that's killing your productivity.

I have spent many hours finding the perfect solution, and Obserra is the only solution which includes all these features. Better yet, it's free!

Creating Your YouTube Time Limit

Ready to take back control of your day? Let's create your personalized YouTube limit. I've made it simple to setup, with this short, effective guide.

1. Create an account. Visit obserra.com and register to start reclaiming your time. You can create an account using your email or instantly with your Google account for a quicker experience.

   

2. Set your limits. Visit the settings page, where you'll be able to set all your limits for YouTube to maximize your focus.

   
   • Daily Limit - This is the total time you'll be allowed to spend watching videos on YouTube. You must set it low enough so you don't spend too much time on YouTube while not being too low where you become frustrated, not having enough time on it.
   • Breaks - You should set consistent breaks to encourage you to regain focus on other tasks. The breaks should be consistent, lasting a reasonable time.
   • Channel Limit and Video Genre Limits - If there are specific channels or types of videos you spend a lot of time on, you should set them in the channel limit. Now you can ensure you're not spending too much time on a specific channel or genre out of your daily watch time allowance.

3. Now you're ready for the final step, downloading the extension, so the YouTube limits you just created can be enforced. Visit the download page for further instructions on how to download it for your device.

   

Measuring Your Success

Now that you're in control of your YouTube time using Obserra, the next step is to track your progress. This is done through the insights page, where you can view your typical habits when using YouTube. Allowing you to get a deeper dive into how you spend your time on YouTube, all to help you understand your habits, and stay productive.

Once you've been using Obserra for a few days your insights page will be populated with your activity on YouTube. Giving analytics such as:

1. Average Watch Time: Understand how long you typically spend per session.
2. Daily Limit Usage: See how close you are to your daily YouTube time limit.
3. Average Session Length: Learn about your typical viewing session.
4. Peak Viewing Times: Discover when you're most likely to get drawn into YouTube.
5. Advanced Graphs: Visualize your overall viewing patterns.
6. Genre Insights: Identify which types of videos dominate your screen time.
7. Average Video Length: Check if you’re watching longer videos than necessary.
8. Top Channels: Know which channels are pulling your attention.

With these insights you have a better understanding of your habits, so you can see where you spend your time and optimize it accordingly.

Conclusion

Your time is limited, while websites like YouTube are entertaining, they drain your time and make you less productive. It's a battle for productivity, which you can't win alone. However, implementing tools like Obserra, allow you to be in control by setting YouTube limits. As a result, you regain hours of your life every day. Now instead of procrastinating, and wasting hours of your life you can become focused again, so you can achieve your biggest goals without being held back.