7 ms·

This hits hard. I recently counted hours watched on YT (via history export) and OH MY GD, it averaged around 3 hours daily throught the year, for several years.

This hits hard. I recently counted hours watched on YT (via history export) and OH MY GD, it averaged around 3 hours daily throught the year, for several years. I just imagined WHAT IF I have spent this amount of effort and time on ANYTHING else: playing an instrument, learning a new language, coding a side-project. The thought scared me so much, aka the difference between current me and "potential" me that I have abstained from YT... for a week, and then I've slipped back. I am truly powerless, damn. Any other ideas besides cold turkey? I mean, some "quality time" needs also to exist, you cannot abstain from everything, right? Or is this a fallacy that gets alcoholics backs to alcohol?

attero 4y ago
This is very real. The time adds up and it's often not the best way to relax/learn. Not only you could spend this time being productive, you could also just be resting or sleeping or just reflecting on your life. You might want to check out https://watchlimits.com/ https://watchlimits.com/ (free extension, I built this), or some other tools I mention in https://watchlimits.com/blog/posts/more_hours_per_week/ https://watchlimits.com/blog/posts/more_hours_per_week/
BbzzbB 4y ago
Did you estimate the hours by summing total video lenghts in history? As I recall there was no time spent stat, just video history eothout watchtime indication.
- artemonster 4y ago
  There is no "official" way of doing this (as I imagine it will scare people away). You have to export your watch history as JSON that contains watch date and video ID. Then you obtain API key from google and iterate over all video IDs and add up video lengths. Yes, this is inaccurate for cases when you scroll thorugh a video and not watch it completely. For all of this there were multiple projects on github that do all of this + with plots.
- aasasd 4y ago
  Ackshually, the mobile apps have statistics on watching, which seem to include what was watched on the desktop. Here's the support page about the feature: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9052667 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9052667 Apparently videos watched on the desktop aren't counted correctly, but I imagine it's not worse than summing the durations.
cyphar 4y ago
I started learning Japanese about two years ago now and now all of the time I used to waste watching YouTube is spent watching YouTube in Japanese as language practice. It's still the same activity but is at least somewhat productive. I barely go on Hacker News too, since it feels like more of a waste of time ("I could be studying Japanese right now!").
- ppqq 4y ago
  Why not improve your local community instead of learning a foreign language?
  - cyphar 4y ago
    My local community has plenty of foreign language speakers from migrant communities (myself included).
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  I did similar with video games, playing them in a different language made me feel better about it.
- wccrawford 4y ago
  Any particular recommendations for an intermediate Japanese learner? Edit: Maybe "upper beginner" is a better fit. I dunno, self study is weird.
  - ehnto 4y ago
    Self study is weird. I'm having a hard time finding good resources because I feel like the content is either too easy, not applicable by me, or completely impenetrable. I lack vocabulary and kanji knowledge to actually utilize grammar I've learned, but I also don't do well with rote memorization so I need material that's interesting and practical to learn with.
    - wccrawford 4y ago
pjc50 4y ago
> 3 hours daily throught the year, for several years. So, less than the average amount of time people spend watching TV?
- artemonster 4y ago
  still a lot, imho. considering how much we spend on commute, work, sport, preparing food and socializing, this is basically almost all your time budget as a "free" time. Then its either wasted consuming addictive crap or doing something interesting with it.
jstummbillig 4y ago
> I just imagined WHAT IF I have spent this amount of effort and time on ANYTHING else: playing an instrument, learning a new language, coding a side-project This is a very unfair set of "ANYTHING else". I am sure you can come up with more real world list of what other people actually do after work, and that might make you feel a little more lenient about your own choices and needs. > Any other ideas besides cold turkey? /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 youtube.com 127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com Best of luck.
- freemint 4y ago
  I even have cron job which over writes /etc/hosts with an /etc/hosts.bak with that content and i have disabled any dns caching in firefox (don't ask me how). Yet .... Sigh ....
  - ehnto 4y ago
    Oh smart. I sometimes remove it and then forget to put it back, and forget that it was something I was supposed to put back, and also forget that those sites were something I was trying to avoid, so visiting them doesn't prompt me to put them back. The brain is really good at forgetting those minor details.
orangepurple 4y ago
Read what Ted has to say about the necessity of going through the power process (paragraphs 33 onward) and the motives of scientists (paragraphs 87 onward) for some perspective in his manifesto on Industrial Society and Its Future: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unab...
- clcaev 4y ago
  What a long-winded rant. Does he ever construct a reasoned argument?
  - ironlake 4y ago
    Based on the pipe bombs, I suspect that he does not.
wazoox 4y ago
Not only that, but now I watch all videos and listen to all podcasts at 1.5 to 3x speed. At some point I should accept the FOMO...
nonameiguess 4y ago
Not to say it's a great use of your time, but watching YouTube videos is a fairly passive activity. You can do it when you're otherwise out of energy and barely able to pay attention, so it isn't necessarily competing with blocks of time in which you can do something like code up side projects and learn to play new instruments. Also, again maybe not for you, but a lot of people's numbers if they're just looking at watch history are going to be totally out of whack if they're using YouTube as a music streaming service. My wife's account is the one logged into our television and this would constitute the vast bulk of watch hours, having music on in the background while cleaning the house, cooking dinner, and doing a whole lot of other things. You definitely can't practice tuba in the background while also cooking and cleaning.
UglyToad 4y ago
Very un-HN take but maybe you're not meant to be 100% efficient all the time, maybe having some time to be passive and relax is good actually. Maybe we work far too much already and expecting to be additionally productive outside those hours is an express train to burnout?
- azemetre 4y ago
  I don't disagree with this but the constant state of being "plugged in" is the issue. Mind wandering is a real useful practice and the being plugged in is antithetical to mind wandering. Some of my most clearest thoughts, ideas, or beliefs came to me when I was just walking on the street not listening to podcasts, audio books, music or browsing social media. I think it's far more useful to literally stare at a wall for 3 hours than just mindlessly watch youtube videos. I say this as someone who is addicted to social media/internet as well and struggle very hard to overcome. What I do is use the freedom app to set time limits and ban these sites during periods of the week. I bought one of those timed safes where I stick my phone in to completely stop the temptation for 4 or 6 hours. I know I can't completely end it, but what I want to do is just nudge myself to do something else. Instead of grabbing a phone maybe I'll attempt to read a book, or draw, or work on some data visualizations, or contribute to OSS. All activities I'd say I value more than browsing reddit (or twitter or youtube or HN) for hours every night, but my actions prove otherwise. I'm not saying I've improved my habits 300% but at the beginning of the year I would read a book for 5 minutes put the book down pick up my phone then read reddit for an hour; at least now I can read a book for 45 minutes without being distracted. It hurts writing this because in college I'd read nearly 500 pages a week + my readings for class, I'd read nearly 200 books a year but over the last 5 years I've probably read 3. I don't know where I'm going with this, I guess my mind wanders when writing as well...
  - yrt0012 4y ago
    It sounds like you're already approaching this idea on your own, but if you haven't checked it out already you should have a look at Digital Minimalism [1]. It's a really well thought out analysis of exactly what you're describing. In theory, a few hours here and there shouldn't be an issue. However, the main problem with modern media (social and otherwise) is that it is very insidious. It's not just about the time spent indulging, but also what that indulgence does to your mental state throughout the rest of the day. [1] https://www.calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/ https://www.calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/
imtringued 4y ago
>I just imagined WHAT IF I have spent this amount of effort and time on ANYTHING else: That's impossible. You can click on a youtube video instantly at any moment and waste 3 hours thanks to the power of the algorithm. Spending that time on anything specific would require you to plan that into your schedule. You are not going to work on a side project when you think you have 30 min for some "harmless" fun but you sure are going to be trapped by the algorithm for three hours without planning to do so.
015a 4y ago
If you have YouTube Premium & the YouTube mobile app; click on your profile picture, then YouTube Premium Benefits. It'll tell you there, of all places, your total "Ad-free video watchtime"; doesn't include the hours watched without Premium, not organizing it per day, not the greatest analytics, but its a number that will surprise every person reading this.
switchbak 4y ago
A lot of the addictive component comes from the ML generated suggestions. Just curate a decently small list of high quality channels and only browse via the subscriptions list. You'll know when you're all caught up and the FOMO isn't there. You'll still catch the stuff you're interested in, but you won't be pulled in a million other random directions. That said, I have the YouTube bug pretty bad myself.
jmiskovic 4y ago
Learning to play an instrument is fun and can be just as addicting. I'd recommend a small form keyboard that can be kept nearby at all times. I adore my Yamaha Reface CP, if you manage to find one. The best part - grinding through chords, arpeggios, scales and challenging song sections to get them into muscle memory can be done while watching unrelated videos.

attero 4y ago

This is very real. The time adds up and it's often not the best way to relax/learn. Not only you could spend this time being productive, you could also just be resting or sleeping or just reflecting on your life. You might want to check out https://watchlimits.com/ https://watchlimits.com/ (free extension, I built this), or some other tools I mention in https://watchlimits.com/blog/posts/more_hours_per_week/ https://watchlimits.com/blog/posts/more_hours_per_week/

BbzzbB 4y ago

Did you estimate the hours by summing total video lenghts in history? As I recall there was no time spent stat, just video history eothout watchtime indication.

artemonster 4y ago
There is no "official" way of doing this (as I imagine it will scare people away). You have to export your watch history as JSON that contains watch date and video ID. Then you obtain API key from google and iterate over all video IDs and add up video lengths. Yes, this is inaccurate for cases when you scroll thorugh a video and not watch it completely. For all of this there were multiple projects on github that do all of this + with plots.
aasasd 4y ago
Ackshually, the mobile apps have statistics on watching, which seem to include what was watched on the desktop. Here's the support page about the feature: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9052667 https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9052667 Apparently videos watched on the desktop aren't counted correctly, but I imagine it's not worse than summing the durations.

cyphar 4y ago

I started learning Japanese about two years ago now and now all of the time I used to waste watching YouTube is spent watching YouTube in Japanese as language practice. It's still the same activity but is at least somewhat productive. I barely go on Hacker News too, since it feels like more of a waste of time ("I could be studying Japanese right now!").

ppqq 4y ago
Why not improve your local community instead of learning a foreign language?
- cyphar 4y ago
  My local community has plenty of foreign language speakers from migrant communities (myself included).
ZeroGravitas 4y ago
I did similar with video games, playing them in a different language made me feel better about it.
wccrawford 4y ago
Any particular recommendations for an intermediate Japanese learner? Edit: Maybe "upper beginner" is a better fit. I dunno, self study is weird.
- ehnto 4y ago
  Self study is weird. I'm having a hard time finding good resources because I feel like the content is either too easy, not applicable by me, or completely impenetrable. I lack vocabulary and kanji knowledge to actually utilize grammar I've learned, but I also don't do well with rote memorization so I need material that's interesting and practical to learn with.
  - wccrawford 4y ago

pjc50 4y ago

> 3 hours daily throught the year, for several years. So, less than the average amount of time people spend watching TV?

artemonster 4y ago
still a lot, imho. considering how much we spend on commute, work, sport, preparing food and socializing, this is basically almost all your time budget as a "free" time. Then its either wasted consuming addictive crap or doing something interesting with it.

jstummbillig 4y ago

> I just imagined WHAT IF I have spent this amount of effort and time on ANYTHING else: playing an instrument, learning a new language, coding a side-project This is a very unfair set of "ANYTHING else". I am sure you can come up with more real world list of what other people actually do after work, and that might make you feel a little more lenient about your own choices and needs. > Any other ideas besides cold turkey? /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 youtube.com 127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com Best of luck.

freemint 4y ago
I even have cron job which over writes /etc/hosts with an /etc/hosts.bak with that content and i have disabled any dns caching in firefox (don't ask me how). Yet .... Sigh ....
- ehnto 4y ago
  Oh smart. I sometimes remove it and then forget to put it back, and forget that it was something I was supposed to put back, and also forget that those sites were something I was trying to avoid, so visiting them doesn't prompt me to put them back. The brain is really good at forgetting those minor details.

orangepurple 4y ago

Read what Ted has to say about the necessity of going through the power process (paragraphs 33 onward) and the motives of scientists (paragraphs 87 onward) for some perspective in his manifesto on Industrial Society and Its Future: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unab...

clcaev 4y ago
What a long-winded rant. Does he ever construct a reasoned argument?
- ironlake 4y ago
  Based on the pipe bombs, I suspect that he does not.

wazoox 4y ago

Not only that, but now I watch all videos and listen to all podcasts at 1.5 to 3x speed. At some point I should accept the FOMO...

nonameiguess 4y ago

Not to say it's a great use of your time, but watching YouTube videos is a fairly passive activity. You can do it when you're otherwise out of energy and barely able to pay attention, so it isn't necessarily competing with blocks of time in which you can do something like code up side projects and learn to play new instruments. Also, again maybe not for you, but a lot of people's numbers if they're just looking at watch history are going to be totally out of whack if they're using YouTube as a music streaming service. My wife's account is the one logged into our television and this would constitute the vast bulk of watch hours, having music on in the background while cleaning the house, cooking dinner, and doing a whole lot of other things. You definitely can't practice tuba in the background while also cooking and cleaning.

UglyToad 4y ago

Very un-HN take but maybe you're not meant to be 100% efficient all the time, maybe having some time to be passive and relax is good actually. Maybe we work far too much already and expecting to be additionally productive outside those hours is an express train to burnout?

azemetre 4y ago
I don't disagree with this but the constant state of being "plugged in" is the issue. Mind wandering is a real useful practice and the being plugged in is antithetical to mind wandering. Some of my most clearest thoughts, ideas, or beliefs came to me when I was just walking on the street not listening to podcasts, audio books, music or browsing social media. I think it's far more useful to literally stare at a wall for 3 hours than just mindlessly watch youtube videos. I say this as someone who is addicted to social media/internet as well and struggle very hard to overcome. What I do is use the freedom app to set time limits and ban these sites during periods of the week. I bought one of those timed safes where I stick my phone in to completely stop the temptation for 4 or 6 hours. I know I can't completely end it, but what I want to do is just nudge myself to do something else. Instead of grabbing a phone maybe I'll attempt to read a book, or draw, or work on some data visualizations, or contribute to OSS. All activities I'd say I value more than browsing reddit (or twitter or youtube or HN) for hours every night, but my actions prove otherwise. I'm not saying I've improved my habits 300% but at the beginning of the year I would read a book for 5 minutes put the book down pick up my phone then read reddit for an hour; at least now I can read a book for 45 minutes without being distracted. It hurts writing this because in college I'd read nearly 500 pages a week + my readings for class, I'd read nearly 200 books a year but over the last 5 years I've probably read 3. I don't know where I'm going with this, I guess my mind wanders when writing as well...
- yrt0012 4y ago
  It sounds like you're already approaching this idea on your own, but if you haven't checked it out already you should have a look at Digital Minimalism [1]. It's a really well thought out analysis of exactly what you're describing. In theory, a few hours here and there shouldn't be an issue. However, the main problem with modern media (social and otherwise) is that it is very insidious. It's not just about the time spent indulging, but also what that indulgence does to your mental state throughout the rest of the day. [1] https://www.calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/ https://www.calnewport.com/books/digital-minimalism/

imtringued 4y ago

>I just imagined WHAT IF I have spent this amount of effort and time on ANYTHING else: That's impossible. You can click on a youtube video instantly at any moment and waste 3 hours thanks to the power of the algorithm. Spending that time on anything specific would require you to plan that into your schedule. You are not going to work on a side project when you think you have 30 min for some "harmless" fun but you sure are going to be trapped by the algorithm for three hours without planning to do so.

015a 4y ago

If you have YouTube Premium & the YouTube mobile app; click on your profile picture, then YouTube Premium Benefits. It'll tell you there, of all places, your total "Ad-free video watchtime"; doesn't include the hours watched without Premium, not organizing it per day, not the greatest analytics, but its a number that will surprise every person reading this.

switchbak 4y ago

A lot of the addictive component comes from the ML generated suggestions. Just curate a decently small list of high quality channels and only browse via the subscriptions list. You'll know when you're all caught up and the FOMO isn't there. You'll still catch the stuff you're interested in, but you won't be pulled in a million other random directions. That said, I have the YouTube bug pretty bad myself.

jmiskovic 4y ago

Learning to play an instrument is fun and can be just as addicting. I'd recommend a small form keyboard that can be kept nearby at all times. I adore my Yamaha Reface CP, if you manage to find one. The best part - grinding through chords, arpeggios, scales and challenging song sections to get them into muscle memory can be done while watching unrelated videos.