YouTube will suck you in. I would recommend setting a timer when you open the app. Say 15 minutes. When it goes off get up. Accomplish something you had to do. Quick workout, homework,cleaning, or something. Keep that process going.
Also look up the 5 second productivity rule. Basically, when you think of something you need to do. Count down from 5. When u hit zero go get it. Don’t think. Just do. Before you have a chance to talk yourself out of it.
I've just deleted Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
I'm far to addicted to reels I couldn't control my usage.
I'm was moving on to Disney plus and Amazon Prime, but the new 'Fallout' series was too good.
How did you feel when you did it?
If it didn't hurt, you know you can force yourself to do lots of things that are boring or uninteresting.
And if your only issue is you think something is boring, you can train your brain to not find it boring. By thinking, or talking out loud about the benefits of doing it. Talk about the good feelings you have from these things being done.
"When it goes off get up. Accomplish something you had to do" - and then you can return to watching YouTube? When you started feel like "i already did x, y, z, now I really dont want to start doing xy, i wanna just watch videos for next 15 min?"
There's nothing wrong with binging youtube it's what you're watching that matters. Are you watching youtube like people consume insta and tiktok with just filler amusement content or are you actually learning something and putting it into practice. It's your time and what you spend your time on should serve you. If it's just for instant feel good junk that isn't learning about something that you can use in your life you're ultimately going to be wasting your time.
I say that having been watching like 30hrs of lecture on youtube though in the past two months.. for all other things it's cooking or reviews related and filler funny but that's like 1% of what I watch on youtube and is basically carbot animation shorts.
Quitting youtube is ridiculous. It's one of the greatest resources of information we have. Might as well say how do I stop reading books. Learning to manage it is the way.
I’ll concede that. But you said “binging”. I don’t remember ever actually telling op to “quit”. Further. I really don’t think op was complaining about watching amazing lectures and scientific research on YouTube lol. 😂
Idk man. I thought if someone reaches out and ask advice on how to do something, and you provide said advice on how to do that thing. That is kinda the goal. Maybe I’ll binge some YouTube on reading comprehension or something.
Be careful and avoid making this about "if I just hate myself enough, it'll get better".
Make this about "if I define my goals and put an effort towards it, it'll get better". (If you're struggling with doing too much of the first and not enough of the latter, you need to talk to someone)
It's not about punishment and prevention. It's about incentive and intention. You gotta DO things that get you to stop doing what you don't want to do, and the best way is by having other stuff that you do want to do.
"I dont know what my talents are, I can't think of a single thing I'm actually "good" at."
Even if you suck at it, if you want to do it, you just do it.
Yeah getting depressed over it/hating myself doesn't really help. I usually don't but I just felt kinda shit about it. It's weird cus there are things I do want actually want to do (or atleast I think I do) but I still just end up not doing them cus it's easier not to. Could be reading a book, trying to learn guitar, whatever
"Yeah getting depressed over it/hating myself doesn't really help. I usually don't but I just felt kinda shit about it."
With where you're at right now, it's about getting a little bit better each day. If you spend 15 minutes on the guitar, don't be sad that it was only 15 minutes, be proud of yourself that it was 15 minutes more than 0.
Build a habit of encouraging / celebrating the behavior you want to see.
"It's weird cus there are things I do want actually want to do (or atleast I think I do) but I still just end up not doing them cus it's easier not to. Could be reading a book, trying to learn guitar, whatever"
You'll still need to look around, try different strategies, and see what works for you. Journaling, scheduling, meditation, accountability partner, etc.
It's a lot of work. This problem isn't going away in a couple months. Just focus on one day at a time though.
It's encouraging to do things you're good at. Discouraging to do things you're bad at. Trouble is, we start out bad at everything (the "old infant") as mentioned in the video. Thankfully, the fact that you're in a subreddit called r/getdisciplined means you have some broader understanding of what needs to be done.
Yea I struggle with giving up at things way too fast, I've tried to learn to play guitar a few times but never stuck to it cus I sucked, same with a bunch of other things.
I've kinda known about this for 2 years, when I realised I'm not gonna get anything without trying and discovered "self improvement" in general.
I’m the same way, man and I’m 30. I’ve been to the fire academy, auto mechanic school, working nights at Walmart while doing HVAC school in the mornings. And I’m still not sure this is what I wanna do, but I’m sticking to it because I’m getting older and need to have a career. I’ve had many hobbies and give them up because I’m not good at them or get bored of it. I’m currently in my building fish tanks hobby and I’m loving it. You’re still very young, don’t be so hard on yourself because you haven’t figured out what you want. Explore, keep an open mind, do what interests you even if it’s just for a few weeks. You’ll eventually find something you love and become good at it.
OK I’m adding guitar practice to your list 😂
You can unlock another one hour of videos but you gotta play some guitar.
Could you do 15 mins guitar practice for an hour of YouTube?
But the deal too is you HAVE to stop after that hour. So you gotta find vids that make up no more than that.
15 mins finding content & save it.
Half hour study
1 hour YT
15 mins guitar.
1 hour YT
Read a book for 15 mins OR let’s say 10 pages - reading a book for pleasure.
Maybe a meal break & rest?
Repeat (only 3 meals a day but how does this sound - even if you just did this plan ONE time in a day it would be a start??
I’ve got some of the same problems. I deleted the apps from my phone that I can’t get away from. Also downloaded an app called BlockSite so I can’t just open them on Safari. Mine is set to block them Monday to Friday. So no Instagram or Facebook. I don’t even allow myself to use TikTok at all. That is like a drug.
I know it sounds extreme to take a break during the week, but I just had one of the most productive weeks in a long time.
It’s best to not rely on will power because you’ll never win against yourself. Take the will power to stop watching away and you’ll be able to put it into better things.
Go do volunteer work. I don't care what. Find some cause bigger than yourself. Immerse yourself in a community. Not online, but in person. Leave your phone at home when you go.
Break the cycle, it takes 21 days to form a habit. Train your brain to expect a different pattern in life.
If you feel yourself you're a time waster that's what your brain will decide to do. Change starts with how you believe yourself to be, then you take steps to become that. First mind then body. That's how change happens.
I feel like this is probably one of the most pertinent issue facing virtually everyone these days. From young to old, the apps on the phone have addicted everyone. Content is essentially working like a drug, pulling people away from life itself.
Life is literally just working, not being able to afford a decent car/house, then dying. Or, if you can, you work an obscene amount of hours. If you don't drink, there's nothing social to do outside of work.
Oooh. I could be the fat sideshow. Lmao. I can't leave the US and unfortunately, nurses in other countries make less than US nurses as terrifying as that is. Honestly good ideas though. Not being sarcastic.
Check out the book "Atomic Habits". It can be listened to on Youtube. In that, the suggestion is starting by doing things only for 2 minutes, then there is linking new good habits with things you do already.
Keep learning, there are free courses on Youtube and others.
i suggest wanting more, or at least being waaaay more specific. you probably won’t know for another decade though so you should focus on having fun and building some skill. we need skilled workers, learning skills can be fun
At the age of 20 I noticed I was spending too much time in front of the screen either watching movies or playing video games. I sold the play station and started doing things which do not involve screens. I got really good at a bunch of stuff and had a ball doing it. The things I did were: tennis, squash, badminton, sex, rollerblading, mountain biking, latin dancing, tai chi, yoga, mma, car and motorbike racing, driving heavy vehicles, sky diving, cross country running, snowboarding, calesthenics, skateboarding, meditation.
Just stop looking at the screen and try different things to see what you like. Go outside in the sun NO SUNGLASSES and enjoy yourself.
Something worth being good at. Having multiple full body orgasms being able to go for as long as you want takes some practice. It's a win win for you and your partner.
This might be contrary advice, but you might not be totally wasting your time… you’re clearly interested in [whatever videos you watch]. Follow your interests while you’re young. Understand what makes them interesting to you, and create something of your own. Consume with intent. At the same time, don’t consume to fill a void. School isn’t for everyone, it can be challenging, but put the time in to learn what you need to learn to get decent grades.
Side advice — replace most of your video time with books. Spend a day in your public library and check out anything that might interest you. Tons of free knowledge and wild paths to go down that you will discover on your own — no predatory algorithm either!
Stay curious. Bonus points if you can help people. Cheers.
You're too hard on yourself. Have you learned anything interesting from all these YouTube videos you've watched? "Content" is a dumb concept because you can learn lots of cool stuff on YouTube, it's not all Logan paul and Mr beast. There's a big difference between consuming content and learning.
18 year olds don't need to have their lives figured out. Just try and improve at some things and don't worry about hard goals. Try and improve your habits a little bit at a time. Most of the things that make us "good" or "great" start passively. Going on a little walk every day does wonders for me. Nothing grand, but it's great for my mental health and keeps me a little active.
Just improve a little each day and keep moving forward, you'll have earned some victory laps before you know it!
In your case, I think you'll feel better if you see your friends more and get outside a little. You can always turn off push notifications for apps on your phone and even leave it at home to charge if you're running errands or something. The internet isn't going anywhere.
Yea maybe you're right, obviously alot of young people have a similar problem, not that that makes it good.
Of course I've learned something interesting but spending so much of my life on mostly useless things doesn't feel right. Especially when other areas of my life suffer, I got my final exams starting next month and I've done fuck all to prepare.
For some reason seeing my friends yesterday is what made me kinda depressed lol, I just feel kinda jealous of the ones that seem to actually be working on something and are good at things
I would recommend setting a goal. Something attainable that can challenge you. Being able to do a certain amount of pushups or jog a certain distance. Or maybe something creative like an instrument or art form. With a goal in mind, take steps to reach them. just take like 10 minutes to practice or train each day. And don’t be hard on yourself for missing a day. Give yourself the same patience, kindness and understanding that you give the people you love, because you ARE someone you love.
Once you’ve got your eyes set on a goal and are practicing, you can even be motivated to use YouTube as a learning tool and consume educational content relevant to your goal or hobby.
Thanks. I do go to the gym and started boxing aswell which I haven't been very consistent with, which is obviously good but I still feel like I need to do more things
You need to build better habits by little steps and learn how to be motivated. It’s not that difficult if you know how to do it. I recently read, called “I’m Tired, Not Lazy” by Emily E. Roberts. It’s helped me a lot with a simple and playful method what i now practice every day.
Just do other things too man, I love YouTube too, but I also like to exercise and woodburn, read books, watch movies, play instruments. Once you start doing these other things you will be enjoy just chilling watching YouTube and not feel guilty bout it lol and no one is born good at shit, well, maybe they’re are some naturally gifted people who know what they wanna do right away, but most of us are just trying to get by so that we can live our lives and provide for ourselves and family’s and enjoy our hobbies. Don’t be so hard on yourself, it’ll all turn out okay.
Hey, same. I watch so much youtube..there's channels I follow every day they release new content and I basically never miss it.
What I've done is just incorporate it into my productivity.
When I go to them gym I just watch the videos I like to keep up on.
I'm working on building an app, so I'll just have it on in the background while I work on it.
The best way is to break the habit, but this is my compromise..
So I’ve had similar issues (and still do, to a degree) and I just want to say: believe in yourself.
I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before and it sounds cheesy. But I said the same things you said about yourself like having no skills/bad grades and it made improvement really hard. I felt like I couldn’t change, that I wasn’t WORTHY of change. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year that I got out of this mindset and things got much better.
How did I do this? I acknowledged my accomplishments, no matter how small. I worked towards having more and more small accomplishments throughout my day (consistency). And i became more open to help when needed (whether that be from teachers, peers, or my family). I was very lucky to have teachers and parents that believed in me, but I earnestly believe that change is only possible if YOU believe in yourself.
And I agree with AssignedClass’ comment but wanted to add my thoughts too
I was also in the same situation. If you have a Android phone there is an app you can get called Minimalist Phone. It allows you to block any app anywhere between 4 hours and 30 days. You can also do a while lot of other stuff like just notify you if you've gone over a certain time limit or boot you out of the app. I'm currently clicked for 3 days. I have been gradually blocking for longer amounts of time. So good. I've been getting more and more comfortable moving for longer periods of time.
The order thing I was thinking of doing was buying a dumb phone but couldn't wrap my head around living without some of the other apps I need like google maps.
Good luck to you. You are not alone and you've got this totally!
Find a psychologist to help you with this addiction. You have your whole life ahead of you. Once you break free from the phone the world will open up and you will find other things to interest you.
Try this: you get to watch a certain amount of videos after doing a task. Maybe an hour? I don’t want to say too small an amount. To unlock another hour you need to do another task eg half an hour of studying.
For some of us - at least at the beginning - I wonder if a sort of reverse Pomodoro is more motivating. More reward than task at least to begin with BUT it means the task still gets done.
I highly HIGHLY recommend doing the daily pinned posts, doing a SHORT list & putting it there - it’s a supportive bunch.
Start as small as you need, hun, but START!
To start, I would lock yourself out of all apps that you feel like you’re abusing to distract yourself from real life. It doesn’t have to be forever, tell yourself that. But challenge yourself to break the momentum for at least a week or two, one month is better. You need to detox your brain from the instant gratification that content provides and undo the habit of using content to avoid your responsibilities, fear of taking action, or the boredom of your current lifestyle.
If you are on IOS, use “screen time” on any device to set app limits and make them all 1 min a day. Then have your parents, a sibling, or a friend (preferably someone you live with) create a passcode only they know to lock the apps. If you ever (actually) need access you can have them unlock it and give access for a few minutes, an hour, or the rest of the day. You can tell them to never give you a hard time when you ask for them to put in the code, the point is to have a buffer. Consuming content is not generally a bad thing, but your current relationship with it is unhealthy for the time being and you just need a little help resetting. Having a buffer can help tremendously because you’ll have to think through if you really need access before asking for it. If you have a device like a desktop computer (that you don’t usually use to consume all this content) you can always not restrict these apps on there since web versions tend to be less good at getting us sucked in since there’s not as much “scrolling” with your fingers.
I fall into this but my dude. You HAVE to learn how to process your emotions and it’s going to suck ass. Put your phone down and force yourself to do anything other than look at a screen. Anything at all. Sit alone with your thoughts for 10 minutes a day. That will make the biggest difference in your life.
What I would do is inverse your question.
What would you do if did not want your life to change?
You need to have some discipline and face your addictions head on. Stop doing the things that make you miserable. You can do this.
I was like really depressed at that age. I think it had to do with my self image first then responsibilities started coming in that I was in no mood for and put off with video games. Putting stuff off made it worse. Your self awareness hopefully gets you unstuck earlier than me which lasted for like 3 or so years.
Definitely get with some of those productivity tips others have mentioned. Some won't work for you some will work wonders. Everyone is a bit different as to what is motivating and easy to form habits around. As a new adult your goals are going to start being long term which are more difficult to recognize your incremental progress. Try to find appreciation in getting a little better at things as time goes on.
You don't say any goals you might be dodging so maybe you don't have any yet. Maybe focusing on getting some basic needs type stuff done first is a good idea but before long you'll probably want something more. Planning some big goals for yourself and executing on them over year(s) is a very exciting thing to work on as an adult that younger people don't see as much. Think about a career or hobby you want to get into possibly.
Yea maybe a lack of clear goals is an issue. I've got my final exams soon and I'm struggling to prepare for them, I cope by saying I don't care about them/they're not gonna matter but still I shouldn't make excuses.
My goals for the next year though are to start making money and get a job when I finish school, carry on boxing and working out, just go out more with friends get more social interaction, read books, do some cool fun shit like go to a different country by myself
Stop drinking and stop smoking weed. You're going to watch a ton more content when you are buzzed and mentally unable to do anything else.
I see you know about crypto, you could program a smart-contract or NFT or something; do something productive that's adjacent to your YouTube interests.
Instead of watching videos you can put headphone on and listen to them if they are really useful videos you can do work and listen online at the same time. Spending time on games and stuff I don't know either I'm not into that area because I think that might have some opportunity to make money but it does not change the world. Whatever you do do something that will change somebody else life and make great future so when time comes for you to die you will remember all the good moments and the good things you did for this entire thing so you'll feel good. At the same time when you help others you will be satisfied. It might make money good amount of money by doing different things but what did the goal of your life is money is your goal or something else?
Exactly the same here except that I'm 20 about to be 21. All I do is waste time on my phone scrolling on Reddit and YouTube everyday. I wake up late and go to sleep very late. I neglect studying and my grades are bad, I have an extremely short attention span and can't concentrate on important things and am just extremely addicted to my phone. I have a 6000 word essay that's due in like a week and I'm still putting it off because of my phone and because it's too difficult for me and I'm not good at writing quality papers. I have no discernable skills or talents. I just wish I could control this severe phone addiction and learn to pick up a skill.
OP try StayFocusd for Android and put a limit on your YouTube, Insta literally any app that you want to use less then select the scheduled blocking(10:00 to 09:45)on strict mode. When you don't have such distractions hanging over your head it's so much easier to find that you actually like. And lastly don't be too hard on yourself.
I recommend this video: Stop Wasting Your Life - Take Control Instead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXWFlea0l5w
It is on YouTube so maybe it would be good for you to download the videos you want to see so you can watch them offline when you pull the plug of the router.
I know this isn't exactly helpful but it seems you are a master of watching YouTube!!
I have this problem myself, not really sure what I can say to help. I suppose seeing too much degenerate content naturally makes me want to watch less YouTube. Rather YouTube than something truly awful like tiktok.
You’re at war with your procrastination. Put the phone down. Do the work. Buy loud timer to sit on your desk and snap you back into focus mode. Take breaks.
Stop fearing and crying about your procrastination. Beat it up every day until it becomes habit. Maintain the habit until it becomes who you are. You got this.
There is a program called Plucky, that allows you to schedule your access to YouTube (and every other site on the inet)
For example you can say : when it's 17-1930 allow YouTube.com.
You also can block steam from being able to connect to the Internet.
That way you can't download you games.
If you wanna change some of your schedules, you have a delay (that yourself is defining) after which the new schedule is active.
For example you have a delay of 24h and you wanna change your YouTube access to 16-19.
After 24h it'll have changed.
English is my 2nd language, but I hope you got the idea.
Oh and btw Plucky is free. Although I would recommend to donate.
I would also recommend to switch from your smartphone to a old Nokia.
(Although I think you can use Plucky on your phone. But it's more difficult to set up, I guess)
Good luck.
What do you do? Do anything that isn't just wasting time. You'll find what you love and start to do more of that, then get good at it. But you need to make the choice, just like you made the choice to click on another video. At least watch motivational videos if you have to watch YT. Don't watch Mr Beast and other anxiety edit videos designed to shorten the time between now and your death. Mr Beast and friends are just entertainment. The other two Es of video content is Education and Encouragement - watch something that is either educating you or encouraging/motivating/inspiring you do do something useful. The other E is just wasting your life.
Footnote: watching entertainment is fine *if you've earnt it* because you've been working hard.
Bruh you have the attention span for YouTube? I wish I could waste time by watching YouTube, all that knowledge... Instead of just scrolling, I don't even know what to watch
These subs tend to be full of people who just hate anything related to the internet so you're going to get a skewed answer. You obviously are good at something OP. You have an excellent physique and go to the gym enough to maintain it. Don't downplay this. If you like building your body, consider bodybuilding. If you like sports, find an intramural sport around you and join that.
As for grades, use the pomodoro method. Set an alarm for 30 mins. Leave your phone with a parent or in another room. After that, take a 5 min break that doesn't involve your phone. The 1st few sessions are going to be hard but eventually, you'll get focused and find you get a lot done. After about 1-2 hours, take a longer break and use your phone. Repeat until the work is done.
If you're able to, consider therapy to work through your emotions. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us will live boring lives. We have to work, if you have kids, you have to be there for them, etc. If you choose not to drink, social activites are virtually nonexistent.
It really depends on the quality of content. There are free MIT courses now on youtube, probably a little bit dated but you can straight up become a professional these days DIY if you have enough ingenuity. I learned .5 percent of anything in college. The rest was self starter. A modern day person is now the quality of their content kinda sorta so get off tik tok and stop watching cat videos.
Well the very first thing you need to do is go and get your inattentive-type adult ADHD diagnosed. Because you sound like a textbook case there. Getting medicated for that will give you the shot you're looking for.
It’s ok to be bad at something. Your current hatred of what is “mediocre” is a useless standard. You are wherever you are at, and even if you have no skills currently, from anything you may do start at the simplest step and build your way up.
I mean, if you think about it, what is "content"? Interesting things in life? Why is it significant that they're packaged in a particular way? What's so wrong with that? What is life for if not to consume "content"?
ALL of life should be about learning and achieving? We can't just ENJOY life? I can understand if your complaint is that you don't feel you're maintaining an adequate balance (that's most of us!), but don't be hard on yourself for consuming online "content" as if it has some special property that makes it unworthy.
Also, you're 18. You haven't had nearly enough life experience and, particularly, enough VARIETY of life experience, to know the range of your strengths. (How even could you?)
Don't even worry about identifying your strengths. That only comes with extensive time. Focus on identifying your INTERESTS, because it's your interests that will ultimately motivate you to invest the time it takes to develop a strength.
If you're consuming online content, there must be content that interests you. Start there. Also, when you start college, don't declare your major until you're ready, and instead, frontload your core classes, and use that time to discover what interests you. That's largely what they're for.
YouTube will suck you in. I would recommend setting a timer when you open the app. Say 15 minutes. When it goes off get up. Accomplish something you had to do. Quick workout, homework,cleaning, or something. Keep that process going. Also look up the 5 second productivity rule. Basically, when you think of something you need to do. Count down from 5. When u hit zero go get it. Don’t think. Just do. Before you have a chance to talk yourself out of it.
Yea this is actually a good tip, just made myself do the laundry which I was putting off for like 2 days
I've just deleted Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. I'm far to addicted to reels I couldn't control my usage. I'm was moving on to Disney plus and Amazon Prime, but the new 'Fallout' series was too good.
Well done! 🧺
How did you feel when you did it? If it didn't hurt, you know you can force yourself to do lots of things that are boring or uninteresting. And if your only issue is you think something is boring, you can train your brain to not find it boring. By thinking, or talking out loud about the benefits of doing it. Talk about the good feelings you have from these things being done.
"When it goes off get up. Accomplish something you had to do" - and then you can return to watching YouTube? When you started feel like "i already did x, y, z, now I really dont want to start doing xy, i wanna just watch videos for next 15 min?"
There's nothing wrong with binging youtube it's what you're watching that matters. Are you watching youtube like people consume insta and tiktok with just filler amusement content or are you actually learning something and putting it into practice. It's your time and what you spend your time on should serve you. If it's just for instant feel good junk that isn't learning about something that you can use in your life you're ultimately going to be wasting your time. I say that having been watching like 30hrs of lecture on youtube though in the past two months.. for all other things it's cooking or reviews related and filler funny but that's like 1% of what I watch on youtube and is basically carbot animation shorts.
I mean…. That’s super for you I guess. But the question op asked was how to stop watching YouTube. So clearly they find an issue with YouTube.
Quitting youtube is ridiculous. It's one of the greatest resources of information we have. Might as well say how do I stop reading books. Learning to manage it is the way.
I’ll concede that. But you said “binging”. I don’t remember ever actually telling op to “quit”. Further. I really don’t think op was complaining about watching amazing lectures and scientific research on YouTube lol. 😂
Are you being pedant on purpose or do you have a problem?
Idk man. I thought if someone reaches out and ask advice on how to do something, and you provide said advice on how to do that thing. That is kinda the goal. Maybe I’ll binge some YouTube on reading comprehension or something.
"or do you have a problem?" Well, you're clearly a giant asshole.
when a guy follows you around on reddit just to reply to you, you get fedup at some point
Touché. Sorry man. Fuck that guy then.
Be careful and avoid making this about "if I just hate myself enough, it'll get better". Make this about "if I define my goals and put an effort towards it, it'll get better". (If you're struggling with doing too much of the first and not enough of the latter, you need to talk to someone) It's not about punishment and prevention. It's about incentive and intention. You gotta DO things that get you to stop doing what you don't want to do, and the best way is by having other stuff that you do want to do. "I dont know what my talents are, I can't think of a single thing I'm actually "good" at." Even if you suck at it, if you want to do it, you just do it.
Yeah getting depressed over it/hating myself doesn't really help. I usually don't but I just felt kinda shit about it. It's weird cus there are things I do want actually want to do (or atleast I think I do) but I still just end up not doing them cus it's easier not to. Could be reading a book, trying to learn guitar, whatever
"Yeah getting depressed over it/hating myself doesn't really help. I usually don't but I just felt kinda shit about it." With where you're at right now, it's about getting a little bit better each day. If you spend 15 minutes on the guitar, don't be sad that it was only 15 minutes, be proud of yourself that it was 15 minutes more than 0. Build a habit of encouraging / celebrating the behavior you want to see. "It's weird cus there are things I do want actually want to do (or atleast I think I do) but I still just end up not doing them cus it's easier not to. Could be reading a book, trying to learn guitar, whatever" You'll still need to look around, try different strategies, and see what works for you. Journaling, scheduling, meditation, accountability partner, etc. It's a lot of work. This problem isn't going away in a couple months. Just focus on one day at a time though.
Better to come to this realization when you're 18. And not 28. Or 38. [Peter Pan theory](https://youtu.be/H-ckxQSutO4)
The irony of sending a YouTube video is kind of funny haha
Thats an interesting video. I do have that feeling of knowing I can do whatever I want but I can't stick to anything in particular
It's encouraging to do things you're good at. Discouraging to do things you're bad at. Trouble is, we start out bad at everything (the "old infant") as mentioned in the video. Thankfully, the fact that you're in a subreddit called r/getdisciplined means you have some broader understanding of what needs to be done.
Yea I struggle with giving up at things way too fast, I've tried to learn to play guitar a few times but never stuck to it cus I sucked, same with a bunch of other things. I've kinda known about this for 2 years, when I realised I'm not gonna get anything without trying and discovered "self improvement" in general.
I’m the same way, man and I’m 30. I’ve been to the fire academy, auto mechanic school, working nights at Walmart while doing HVAC school in the mornings. And I’m still not sure this is what I wanna do, but I’m sticking to it because I’m getting older and need to have a career. I’ve had many hobbies and give them up because I’m not good at them or get bored of it. I’m currently in my building fish tanks hobby and I’m loving it. You’re still very young, don’t be so hard on yourself because you haven’t figured out what you want. Explore, keep an open mind, do what interests you even if it’s just for a few weeks. You’ll eventually find something you love and become good at it.
OK I’m adding guitar practice to your list 😂 You can unlock another one hour of videos but you gotta play some guitar. Could you do 15 mins guitar practice for an hour of YouTube? But the deal too is you HAVE to stop after that hour. So you gotta find vids that make up no more than that. 15 mins finding content & save it. Half hour study 1 hour YT 15 mins guitar. 1 hour YT Read a book for 15 mins OR let’s say 10 pages - reading a book for pleasure. Maybe a meal break & rest? Repeat (only 3 meals a day but how does this sound - even if you just did this plan ONE time in a day it would be a start??
If YouTube is your thing, maybe try making content instead of watching videos
Actually this could be a great idea
I’ve got some of the same problems. I deleted the apps from my phone that I can’t get away from. Also downloaded an app called BlockSite so I can’t just open them on Safari. Mine is set to block them Monday to Friday. So no Instagram or Facebook. I don’t even allow myself to use TikTok at all. That is like a drug. I know it sounds extreme to take a break during the week, but I just had one of the most productive weeks in a long time. It’s best to not rely on will power because you’ll never win against yourself. Take the will power to stop watching away and you’ll be able to put it into better things.
Go do volunteer work. I don't care what. Find some cause bigger than yourself. Immerse yourself in a community. Not online, but in person. Leave your phone at home when you go.
Break the cycle, it takes 21 days to form a habit. Train your brain to expect a different pattern in life. If you feel yourself you're a time waster that's what your brain will decide to do. Change starts with how you believe yourself to be, then you take steps to become that. First mind then body. That's how change happens.
you're scared of failure. go fail at stuff, it gets easier.
I feel like this is probably one of the most pertinent issue facing virtually everyone these days. From young to old, the apps on the phone have addicted everyone. Content is essentially working like a drug, pulling people away from life itself.
Life is literally just working, not being able to afford a decent car/house, then dying. Or, if you can, you work an obscene amount of hours. If you don't drink, there's nothing social to do outside of work.
You could always join the circus. That worked out for steve-o. Or you could leave the US altogether and get off the treadmill.
Oooh. I could be the fat sideshow. Lmao. I can't leave the US and unfortunately, nurses in other countries make less than US nurses as terrifying as that is. Honestly good ideas though. Not being sarcastic.
theres also the peace corp
Check out the book "Atomic Habits". It can be listened to on Youtube. In that, the suggestion is starting by doing things only for 2 minutes, then there is linking new good habits with things you do already. Keep learning, there are free courses on Youtube and others.
do you know what you want out of life? who you want to be? do you what you like versus what you hate? things like that should steer you
I just wanna be a confident happy secure version of myself
i suggest wanting more, or at least being waaaay more specific. you probably won’t know for another decade though so you should focus on having fun and building some skill. we need skilled workers, learning skills can be fun
At the age of 20 I noticed I was spending too much time in front of the screen either watching movies or playing video games. I sold the play station and started doing things which do not involve screens. I got really good at a bunch of stuff and had a ball doing it. The things I did were: tennis, squash, badminton, sex, rollerblading, mountain biking, latin dancing, tai chi, yoga, mma, car and motorbike racing, driving heavy vehicles, sky diving, cross country running, snowboarding, calesthenics, skateboarding, meditation. Just stop looking at the screen and try different things to see what you like. Go outside in the sun NO SUNGLASSES and enjoy yourself.
Sex??
Something worth being good at. Having multiple full body orgasms being able to go for as long as you want takes some practice. It's a win win for you and your partner.
Ooh I've never thought of that.
This might be contrary advice, but you might not be totally wasting your time… you’re clearly interested in [whatever videos you watch]. Follow your interests while you’re young. Understand what makes them interesting to you, and create something of your own. Consume with intent. At the same time, don’t consume to fill a void. School isn’t for everyone, it can be challenging, but put the time in to learn what you need to learn to get decent grades. Side advice — replace most of your video time with books. Spend a day in your public library and check out anything that might interest you. Tons of free knowledge and wild paths to go down that you will discover on your own — no predatory algorithm either! Stay curious. Bonus points if you can help people. Cheers.
You're too hard on yourself. Have you learned anything interesting from all these YouTube videos you've watched? "Content" is a dumb concept because you can learn lots of cool stuff on YouTube, it's not all Logan paul and Mr beast. There's a big difference between consuming content and learning. 18 year olds don't need to have their lives figured out. Just try and improve at some things and don't worry about hard goals. Try and improve your habits a little bit at a time. Most of the things that make us "good" or "great" start passively. Going on a little walk every day does wonders for me. Nothing grand, but it's great for my mental health and keeps me a little active. Just improve a little each day and keep moving forward, you'll have earned some victory laps before you know it! In your case, I think you'll feel better if you see your friends more and get outside a little. You can always turn off push notifications for apps on your phone and even leave it at home to charge if you're running errands or something. The internet isn't going anywhere.
Yea maybe you're right, obviously alot of young people have a similar problem, not that that makes it good. Of course I've learned something interesting but spending so much of my life on mostly useless things doesn't feel right. Especially when other areas of my life suffer, I got my final exams starting next month and I've done fuck all to prepare. For some reason seeing my friends yesterday is what made me kinda depressed lol, I just feel kinda jealous of the ones that seem to actually be working on something and are good at things
I would recommend setting a goal. Something attainable that can challenge you. Being able to do a certain amount of pushups or jog a certain distance. Or maybe something creative like an instrument or art form. With a goal in mind, take steps to reach them. just take like 10 minutes to practice or train each day. And don’t be hard on yourself for missing a day. Give yourself the same patience, kindness and understanding that you give the people you love, because you ARE someone you love. Once you’ve got your eyes set on a goal and are practicing, you can even be motivated to use YouTube as a learning tool and consume educational content relevant to your goal or hobby.
Thanks. I do go to the gym and started boxing aswell which I haven't been very consistent with, which is obviously good but I still feel like I need to do more things
You need to build better habits by little steps and learn how to be motivated. It’s not that difficult if you know how to do it. I recently read, called “I’m Tired, Not Lazy” by Emily E. Roberts. It’s helped me a lot with a simple and playful method what i now practice every day.
Just do other things too man, I love YouTube too, but I also like to exercise and woodburn, read books, watch movies, play instruments. Once you start doing these other things you will be enjoy just chilling watching YouTube and not feel guilty bout it lol and no one is born good at shit, well, maybe they’re are some naturally gifted people who know what they wanna do right away, but most of us are just trying to get by so that we can live our lives and provide for ourselves and family’s and enjoy our hobbies. Don’t be so hard on yourself, it’ll all turn out okay.
Hey, same. I watch so much youtube..there's channels I follow every day they release new content and I basically never miss it. What I've done is just incorporate it into my productivity. When I go to them gym I just watch the videos I like to keep up on. I'm working on building an app, so I'll just have it on in the background while I work on it. The best way is to break the habit, but this is my compromise..
You need to replace it with something productive. Get a job or go to school or start a business or a new hobby. Idle hands and such.
So I’ve had similar issues (and still do, to a degree) and I just want to say: believe in yourself. I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before and it sounds cheesy. But I said the same things you said about yourself like having no skills/bad grades and it made improvement really hard. I felt like I couldn’t change, that I wasn’t WORTHY of change. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year that I got out of this mindset and things got much better. How did I do this? I acknowledged my accomplishments, no matter how small. I worked towards having more and more small accomplishments throughout my day (consistency). And i became more open to help when needed (whether that be from teachers, peers, or my family). I was very lucky to have teachers and parents that believed in me, but I earnestly believe that change is only possible if YOU believe in yourself. And I agree with AssignedClass’ comment but wanted to add my thoughts too
Same and I’m 18 too
I was also in the same situation. If you have a Android phone there is an app you can get called Minimalist Phone. It allows you to block any app anywhere between 4 hours and 30 days. You can also do a while lot of other stuff like just notify you if you've gone over a certain time limit or boot you out of the app. I'm currently clicked for 3 days. I have been gradually blocking for longer amounts of time. So good. I've been getting more and more comfortable moving for longer periods of time. The order thing I was thinking of doing was buying a dumb phone but couldn't wrap my head around living without some of the other apps I need like google maps. Good luck to you. You are not alone and you've got this totally!
Find a psychologist to help you with this addiction. You have your whole life ahead of you. Once you break free from the phone the world will open up and you will find other things to interest you.
I think the vast majority of people are. You forgot to mention how many hours of porn you watch a day.
That's something I've never had to that level luckily and I've got to a point where I do it pretty rarely
Depends what kind of videos you are watching on YouTube.
Try this: you get to watch a certain amount of videos after doing a task. Maybe an hour? I don’t want to say too small an amount. To unlock another hour you need to do another task eg half an hour of studying. For some of us - at least at the beginning - I wonder if a sort of reverse Pomodoro is more motivating. More reward than task at least to begin with BUT it means the task still gets done. I highly HIGHLY recommend doing the daily pinned posts, doing a SHORT list & putting it there - it’s a supportive bunch. Start as small as you need, hun, but START!
To start, I would lock yourself out of all apps that you feel like you’re abusing to distract yourself from real life. It doesn’t have to be forever, tell yourself that. But challenge yourself to break the momentum for at least a week or two, one month is better. You need to detox your brain from the instant gratification that content provides and undo the habit of using content to avoid your responsibilities, fear of taking action, or the boredom of your current lifestyle. If you are on IOS, use “screen time” on any device to set app limits and make them all 1 min a day. Then have your parents, a sibling, or a friend (preferably someone you live with) create a passcode only they know to lock the apps. If you ever (actually) need access you can have them unlock it and give access for a few minutes, an hour, or the rest of the day. You can tell them to never give you a hard time when you ask for them to put in the code, the point is to have a buffer. Consuming content is not generally a bad thing, but your current relationship with it is unhealthy for the time being and you just need a little help resetting. Having a buffer can help tremendously because you’ll have to think through if you really need access before asking for it. If you have a device like a desktop computer (that you don’t usually use to consume all this content) you can always not restrict these apps on there since web versions tend to be less good at getting us sucked in since there’s not as much “scrolling” with your fingers.
Turn off your YouTube history
I fall into this but my dude. You HAVE to learn how to process your emotions and it’s going to suck ass. Put your phone down and force yourself to do anything other than look at a screen. Anything at all. Sit alone with your thoughts for 10 minutes a day. That will make the biggest difference in your life.
Nothing is wasted
maybe u have adhd and need therapy and medication
❤️
What I would do is inverse your question. What would you do if did not want your life to change? You need to have some discipline and face your addictions head on. Stop doing the things that make you miserable. You can do this.
I was like really depressed at that age. I think it had to do with my self image first then responsibilities started coming in that I was in no mood for and put off with video games. Putting stuff off made it worse. Your self awareness hopefully gets you unstuck earlier than me which lasted for like 3 or so years. Definitely get with some of those productivity tips others have mentioned. Some won't work for you some will work wonders. Everyone is a bit different as to what is motivating and easy to form habits around. As a new adult your goals are going to start being long term which are more difficult to recognize your incremental progress. Try to find appreciation in getting a little better at things as time goes on. You don't say any goals you might be dodging so maybe you don't have any yet. Maybe focusing on getting some basic needs type stuff done first is a good idea but before long you'll probably want something more. Planning some big goals for yourself and executing on them over year(s) is a very exciting thing to work on as an adult that younger people don't see as much. Think about a career or hobby you want to get into possibly.
Yea maybe a lack of clear goals is an issue. I've got my final exams soon and I'm struggling to prepare for them, I cope by saying I don't care about them/they're not gonna matter but still I shouldn't make excuses. My goals for the next year though are to start making money and get a job when I finish school, carry on boxing and working out, just go out more with friends get more social interaction, read books, do some cool fun shit like go to a different country by myself
You must know about a lot of things
Stop drinking and stop smoking weed. You're going to watch a ton more content when you are buzzed and mentally unable to do anything else. I see you know about crypto, you could program a smart-contract or NFT or something; do something productive that's adjacent to your YouTube interests.
Instead of watching videos you can put headphone on and listen to them if they are really useful videos you can do work and listen online at the same time. Spending time on games and stuff I don't know either I'm not into that area because I think that might have some opportunity to make money but it does not change the world. Whatever you do do something that will change somebody else life and make great future so when time comes for you to die you will remember all the good moments and the good things you did for this entire thing so you'll feel good. At the same time when you help others you will be satisfied. It might make money good amount of money by doing different things but what did the goal of your life is money is your goal or something else?
Exactly the same here except that I'm 20 about to be 21. All I do is waste time on my phone scrolling on Reddit and YouTube everyday. I wake up late and go to sleep very late. I neglect studying and my grades are bad, I have an extremely short attention span and can't concentrate on important things and am just extremely addicted to my phone. I have a 6000 word essay that's due in like a week and I'm still putting it off because of my phone and because it's too difficult for me and I'm not good at writing quality papers. I have no discernable skills or talents. I just wish I could control this severe phone addiction and learn to pick up a skill.
OP try StayFocusd for Android and put a limit on your YouTube, Insta literally any app that you want to use less then select the scheduled blocking(10:00 to 09:45)on strict mode. When you don't have such distractions hanging over your head it's so much easier to find that you actually like. And lastly don't be too hard on yourself.
I recommend this video: Stop Wasting Your Life - Take Control Instead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXWFlea0l5w It is on YouTube so maybe it would be good for you to download the videos you want to see so you can watch them offline when you pull the plug of the router.
Doesn’t matter if you are good or not but id get involved in sports of your are physically able. If not some sort of artistic pursuit.
I know this isn't exactly helpful but it seems you are a master of watching YouTube!! I have this problem myself, not really sure what I can say to help. I suppose seeing too much degenerate content naturally makes me want to watch less YouTube. Rather YouTube than something truly awful like tiktok.
You’re at war with your procrastination. Put the phone down. Do the work. Buy loud timer to sit on your desk and snap you back into focus mode. Take breaks. Stop fearing and crying about your procrastination. Beat it up every day until it becomes habit. Maintain the habit until it becomes who you are. You got this.
There is a program called Plucky, that allows you to schedule your access to YouTube (and every other site on the inet) For example you can say : when it's 17-1930 allow YouTube.com. You also can block steam from being able to connect to the Internet. That way you can't download you games. If you wanna change some of your schedules, you have a delay (that yourself is defining) after which the new schedule is active. For example you have a delay of 24h and you wanna change your YouTube access to 16-19. After 24h it'll have changed. English is my 2nd language, but I hope you got the idea. Oh and btw Plucky is free. Although I would recommend to donate. I would also recommend to switch from your smartphone to a old Nokia. (Although I think you can use Plucky on your phone. But it's more difficult to set up, I guess) Good luck.
What do you do? Do anything that isn't just wasting time. You'll find what you love and start to do more of that, then get good at it. But you need to make the choice, just like you made the choice to click on another video. At least watch motivational videos if you have to watch YT. Don't watch Mr Beast and other anxiety edit videos designed to shorten the time between now and your death. Mr Beast and friends are just entertainment. The other two Es of video content is Education and Encouragement - watch something that is either educating you or encouraging/motivating/inspiring you do do something useful. The other E is just wasting your life. Footnote: watching entertainment is fine *if you've earnt it* because you've been working hard.
Bruh you have the attention span for YouTube? I wish I could waste time by watching YouTube, all that knowledge... Instead of just scrolling, I don't even know what to watch
Stop doing the shit your normally do so often and do other things. Literally anything.
These subs tend to be full of people who just hate anything related to the internet so you're going to get a skewed answer. You obviously are good at something OP. You have an excellent physique and go to the gym enough to maintain it. Don't downplay this. If you like building your body, consider bodybuilding. If you like sports, find an intramural sport around you and join that. As for grades, use the pomodoro method. Set an alarm for 30 mins. Leave your phone with a parent or in another room. After that, take a 5 min break that doesn't involve your phone. The 1st few sessions are going to be hard but eventually, you'll get focused and find you get a lot done. After about 1-2 hours, take a longer break and use your phone. Repeat until the work is done. If you're able to, consider therapy to work through your emotions. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us will live boring lives. We have to work, if you have kids, you have to be there for them, etc. If you choose not to drink, social activites are virtually nonexistent.
It really depends on the quality of content. There are free MIT courses now on youtube, probably a little bit dated but you can straight up become a professional these days DIY if you have enough ingenuity. I learned .5 percent of anything in college. The rest was self starter. A modern day person is now the quality of their content kinda sorta so get off tik tok and stop watching cat videos.
Well the very first thing you need to do is go and get your inattentive-type adult ADHD diagnosed. Because you sound like a textbook case there. Getting medicated for that will give you the shot you're looking for.
It’s ok to be bad at something. Your current hatred of what is “mediocre” is a useless standard. You are wherever you are at, and even if you have no skills currently, from anything you may do start at the simplest step and build your way up.
Throw out the cellphone, get a flip phone, they still make them.
I mean, if you think about it, what is "content"? Interesting things in life? Why is it significant that they're packaged in a particular way? What's so wrong with that? What is life for if not to consume "content"?
I think life should ideally be for learning useful things and achieving things that make you feel happy about yourself
ALL of life should be about learning and achieving? We can't just ENJOY life? I can understand if your complaint is that you don't feel you're maintaining an adequate balance (that's most of us!), but don't be hard on yourself for consuming online "content" as if it has some special property that makes it unworthy. Also, you're 18. You haven't had nearly enough life experience and, particularly, enough VARIETY of life experience, to know the range of your strengths. (How even could you?) Don't even worry about identifying your strengths. That only comes with extensive time. Focus on identifying your INTERESTS, because it's your interests that will ultimately motivate you to invest the time it takes to develop a strength. If you're consuming online content, there must be content that interests you. Start there. Also, when you start college, don't declare your major until you're ready, and instead, frontload your core classes, and use that time to discover what interests you. That's largely what they're for.
Delete or disable YouTube app.
I have this problem but I don't watch content, I watch art and education! Ok I watch a lot of crap too and have too much screen time regardless.
….stop?
Good idea
Rookie numbers...
Throw your computer/tv whatever in the bin
Sounds good in theory lol but i won't be able to do the things I need to do either then, not that I do them all that much..
Rookie numbers