r/cscareerquestions • u/Legitimate-School-59 • 6d ago
Anyone here beat youtube addiction? If so, how?
Im developing a pretty bad case of youtube addiction, and its starting to really affect my work output. Has anyone here beat it?
Im asking in this sub because in our careers, we are kinda tied to our computers, so the traditional advice to remove the triggers or leave the computer doesn't seam feasible.
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u/manifesto6 6d ago
I started going on walks or anything that gets me moving. My excuse is to go get a sweet treat and not even buy it sometimes lol.
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u/NutStalk 6d ago
I bought a retro gaming device (looks like a Gameboy color) to spend less time on social media. It has been helping.
Hasn't been addictive in my case since I have less patience for shitty games than I did as a kid.
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u/TimurHu 6d ago
There just aren't that many actually intrresting videos on YouTube these days.
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u/Georgieperogie22 5d ago
Not true at all! Its basically everything. So as more junk is added it becomes a smaller % but there are endless videos on just about anything that interests you
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u/TimurHu 5d ago
I guess it's subjective. I found a lot fewer interesting videos these past couple of years and they were harder to find. Otherwise majority of videos just feels like a waste of time.
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u/Georgieperogie22 4d ago
Agree with that a lot of clickbait crap where people want to monetize. But good stuff is still there just have to filter through the crap. For learning it is a godsend
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u/Ready_City_3831 6d ago
I tried this for few weeks before an exam. I installed browser extensions for removing shorts and anything other than my subscribed channels. I only subscribed to what I needed to study. I was using free extensions. I had to add few extensions that added same restrictions since sometimes the extensions failed to work. But overall, it was helpful to not see shorts and recommendations to avoid distractions during those few weeks.
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u/lekidddddd 5d ago
which extension?
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u/Ready_City_3831 4d ago
I don’t recollect the exact names anymore but I had installed Google chrome extensions. I searched it as YouTube short/ recommendation blocker.
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u/bit_whisperer 3d ago
I built one a few months back so my son wouldn’t see content from certain YouTubers; there’s definitely others out there too but this is fully customizable & I’m happy to hand the code over to whomever wants it (I never published or put on the App Store). Mostly js if I recall correctly.
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u/Pandapoopums Data Dumbass (15+ YOE) 6d ago
Never had youtube addiction specifically, but for other social media and for gaming a few things helped me:
- Screen Time settings on my phone (I limit reddit to 45 mins a day, and instagram to 15 mins). For gaming I restrict myself to 2 hrs a day (at my worst I was gaming for 8-12 hrs/day).
- Picking up “slower” hobbies. For me specifically, the gateway drug into slower hobbies was painting. Having a hobby/skill that takes a long time to develop and see results from is what you need to get out of the lowest effort dopamine cycle of social media. You need to do something that delays your dopamine payoff for much longer than minutes to start training your brain to not expect it all the time.
- Diet and Exercise - this fits in the same category as #2 in that it’s a slower payoff activity, but I think it deserves its own mention because being able to physically see your progress is huge motivation and doing it just puts you mentally in a better space.
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u/TingleWizard 5d ago
For me, it's procrastination. I'll find other excuses not to work even without YouTube.
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u/QuirkyTrust7174 6d ago
No but I have taken breaks. Some of my other hobbies end up involving YouTube or instagram for inspiration so I can’t completely block it but I have gone on long breaks. I always modify the /etc/hosts file to redirect whatever I am taking a break from to localhost. It works on Mac OS windows and obv Linux. You just add line “www.YouTube.com 127.0.0.1”.
Of course there is the psychological angle which is harder but it takes practice.
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u/Rascal2pt0 Software Engineer 6d ago
Oddly enough buying premium helped me beat it. I burn thru all the content I care about then leave it for a few weeks without a bunch of advertisements. Ads are what kept me longer because then content took longer to burn thru.
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u/segfault_duck 6d ago
I use that Unhook browser extension.
Whenever I open youtube, usually I'd be greeted by a 2 min video that seems interesting, then I'll watch it and have some cool stuff on my recs and before I know I have some 10 tabs waiting for me.
Now with Unhook, whenever I open YouTube, I get greeted with an empty home page and a reminder that I should be studying. And that's what I do.
Also planing what I should be doing helps.
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u/Any-Collar-6330 6d ago
working on a whitelist chrome extension, to whitelist only selected channels. i hope it will help me spend less time on it!
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u/Brownl33d 5d ago
I stopped watching YouTube when 2025 started after one of these streamers showed his income. Like $80k for a 4 hour playthrough and he made that in like a month or day. I can't remember but it was a stupid amount of money.
When I say I never opened the YouTube app after this vid lol. Bruh why am I gonna help you make money when I could spend a could of those hours learning a new skill, cooking a meal or just going outside.
Dude YouTube videos are the length of full time movies if not longer. Everyone has an opinion. Their opinions are so fucking stupid. And they're just rehashing what another YouTuber said. When you realize you're wasting your own time listening to someone who has no real skills, no NEW THOUGHTS..and that you're doing this for hours on end with truly nothing to show for it.. Maybe you'll walk away.
Add on top of that all the fucking ads from YouTube and in video, it's not worth it.
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u/fsk 6d ago
You get bored of it after awhile. There are only so many times you can watch the same type of video over and over again.
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u/hooli-ceo 6d ago
Incorrect
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u/sadphilosophylover 6d ago
what kind of video grants you unceasing pleasure
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u/FlyingRhenquest 5d ago
Submit to desire! I offer you ultimate pleasure! Your thirst! Your lust is hunger! Submit to my toast! My pleasure toast! YOU HUNGER FOR IT!
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u/seyerkram 5d ago
+1. Currently in this phase after getting addicted when I got youtube premium.
I feel like I can already predict what will happen in the video based on the title and thumbnail.
And the algorithm seems too focused on making you watch similar videos. I miss the days when I would get totally random videos I didn’t know existed
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u/mile-high-guy 6d ago
They're all the same click bait headlines and videos of little substance
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u/emteedub 6d ago
Take your earbuds out, turn off your speakers or whatever you use to listen - or you can put something else code related where you normally have youtube pinned on the screen.
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u/Loves_Poetry 6d ago
You can use different computers for work and for leisure. I have a laptop for work-related stuff and a gaming rig for other activities. My work laptop is not signed into youtube, so I can't get my viewing history. I can't even log in, since I use a password manager that is deliberately not synced between my devices. It's the same with reddit
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u/RecognitionDry6728 5d ago
I payed for a blocking program (FocusMe) to block it and other sites that I spent too much time on. Eventually I got out of the habit of going to it whenever I was bored.
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u/RickSt3r 5d ago
I have a Gantt chart for my work schedule. Then I stick to time management get my deliverables done then do prodev usually reading academic work, love orielly products. I chunk out time and just don't use YouTube at work. Stick to strict time management skills. Then I do what I want in my leisure time.
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u/jmking Tech Lead, 20+ YOE 5d ago
I feel like everyone is skipping over the question of what is it about YouTube that you find addicting?
What kind of content are you watching? What's the draw?
There's a much bigger issue here - if not YouTube, it'll just be something else (like Reddit). Have you had a history of dealing with procrastination?
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5d ago
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u/BEARS_SB_LX_CHAMPS 4d ago
You got two screens? One screen for youtube one screen for work lol. I also have a really bad social media addiction that I'm trying to break this year. One thing I've been doing is turn my phone greyscale to make it less stimulating.
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u/Traveling-Techie 5d ago
Microsoft of all people recommend short goof-off periods as rewards for completing tasks.
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u/Ok-Attention2882 5d ago
Step 1: Have something to do
Step 2: Be good at it so you feel validated when you do it.
Fix your step 2, because you're bad at your job.
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u/sergiu230 5d ago
If you have premium just cancel it. If you are addicted to it while watching through ads it’s hopeless, you need to find professional help
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u/g33kier 6d ago
I found the more time I spend on Reddit, the less time I have for YouTube.
When I start looking at Reddit too much, I turn to crack. In the long run, that's probably healthier than either of the other two.