How I Reverted My Addiction to YouTube
I was addicted to YouTube and social media, like, alarmingly addicted. Talk about wasting 3–4 hours a day just watching endless YouTube videos. And then a few weeks ago, I read a book called “Digital Minimalism” by Cal Newport. In the book, he suggested removing all optional technology in 30 days and gradually reintroduce them back with intention afterwards. And by optional technology, it means any online service, news or apps that do not prevent you from functioning on a day-to-day basis.
Knowing myself, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go full-on cold turkey, so I decided to cut down only the apps that I’m most addicted to. YouTube is on the list.
Leaving YouTube is difficult. It was my primary source of entertainment. It was also a great place to explore new ideas and to learn.
To my surprise, after a month and a series of steps that I took to discourage myself from using YouTube, I no longer have the urge to watch YouTube. It’s just not that interesting. I managed to reduce my YouTube time to less than 15 minutes on average per day. That equals to one YouTube video per day.
So here are the things that I did, and I hope you’ll benefit from my experience too! ⬇️
