Watching YouTube Shorts is initially entertaining but can also become a time sink for many people. These Shorts are highly addictive and can keep you glued to your screen for hours.
In this article, we will show you 3 tricks and a bonus to overcome the temptation of watching YouTube shorts all day.
Why watching YouTube Shorts all day can be unhealthy?
YouTube Shorts are entertaining, but excessive watching can negatively affect mental well-being. Whether it's YouTube Shorts or TikTok, these contents can lead to mental fatigue due to their constant stimulation. The rapid consumption of short videos can result in the following:
🤪 Decreased attention and concentration
🤯 Information overload
😮💨 Mental fatigue
Excessive consumption of YouTube Shorts can directly impact your health, particularly sleep. Watching Shorts before bedtime exposes you to blue light, overstimulating your brain when it should be at rest. This can disrupt your natural sleep cycle, leading to issues such as insomnia and a decrease in sleep quality. Fortunately, we will show you 3 tricks to stop watching YouTube Shorts completely.
How to stop scrolling and watching YouTube Shorts?
✋ Trick #1: Stop YouTube Shorts from Showing (Magic "Not Interested" Feature)
There's a simple trick to completely disable the display of YouTube Shorts on the YouTube homepage.
On your smartphone, launch the YouTube app. Scroll until you see YouTube Shorts. Do not watch any of these shorts, and for each short, do the following:
1️⃣ Select the three small dots for options on a Short
2️⃣ Select "Not Interested"
Do this for all Shorts, then exit the YouTube app. Relaunch it; you will no longer see any YouTube Shorts in your feed. Even days later, you won't be presented with YouTube Shorts. You won't see Shorts there if you also use your YouTube account on your computer.
By doing this, you signal to YouTube that you don't like Shorts, and the algorithm will stop suggesting these types of videos. This is a crucial first step to reduce your YouTube Shorts consumption drastically.
🖤 Trick #2: Put your phone in black-and-white mode so it's more boring
Another simple solution we've previously discussed is to set your smartphone to black and white. After trying this, we realized we spent much less time on our smartphones and watching YouTube Shorts.
Our brains are constantly stimulated by bright colours on our screens, and switching to black and white brings us back to the basics. All visual content appears dull and less appealing, activating our reward system less but helping us prioritize our goals.
To do this, access the display settings on most smartphones. Follow the steps below for Android and iOS devices:
🤖 Android
1️⃣ Navigate to Settings > Accessibility
2️⃣ Select Color correction and switch it to on
3️⃣ Choose Color correction mode to Greyscale
🍎 iOS
1️⃣ Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size
2️⃣ Toggle Color Filters on
3️⃣ Select Greyscale as the filter mode
On iPhone, you can even set your power button to turn the black and white mode on/off with three clicks on the side button or automate this mode when it's bedtime. We explained everything in detail in this article.
🧠 Trick #3: Self-awareness might be one of your best bets
Here's an excellent tip to realize when you're wasting time watching YouTube Shorts: every time you catch yourself watching more than 4-5 YouTube Shorts in a row, do 10 push-ups (or knee push-ups) or 10 squats, your choice.
Today, we tend to be sedentary and often sitting, and this kind of movement helps "wake up" the sometimes sleepy and lazy body. This will raise your self-awareness, and at the same time, you will do a good action after feeling guilty about watching YouTube Shorts.
Paired with this technique, you can also keep a journal where you write the month's dates like a calendar and draw a stick under the date every time you have a watching session of more than 4-5 YouTube Shorts. This will help you realize how much time you spend watching YouTube Shorts.
Do this on paper or in a notebook because using a pen speaks more to your brain than writing it on your smartphone. These measures may seem radical or too simple, but try them; they are extremely effective. You will spend less time on YouTube Shorts, and your mental and physical health will thank you.
How to Limit Your Time on YouTube? [Long-term solution using Jomo]
As a bonus, we wanted to talk to you about a long-term solution that can be very effective in limiting your time on YouTube and other applications on your smartphone. Perhaps you also spend too much time on TikTok or Instagram… by using the Jomo app available on iPhone and Mac, you can regain control of your precious time.
Jomo has been specifically designed to spend less time on your smartphone and eliminate addictions such as spending too much time watching YouTube Shorts. The app is straightforward, and new useful features are regularly added.
In the case of YouTube Shorts, one Jomo feature will allow you to block YouTube completely or during specific hours each day.
Here's how to proceed:
1️⃣ Install Jomo on your iPhone
2️⃣ Go to "Rules" and then tap on the "+" to select "Start blocking session"
3️⃣ Choose "App blocked" and select "YouTube" in "Social" to block YouTube
4️⃣ In "Timing," change "Scheduled" to "Always on" if you want to block YouTube completely. If not, select "Scheduled" and set your day(s) and hours when you want YouTube blocked.
5️⃣ Tap on Start to start blocking YouTube
If you don't want to adjust these settings, the Jomo team has also developed a template called "Conscious use" that you can easily find. It allows you to block/unblock the applications of your choice (including YouTube) whenever you want with a simple switch.
If you want to regain control of your time and reduce iPhone usage, Jomo will be your best ally in your journey towards better digital well-being.
If you feel you spend too much time watching YouTube Shorts, that's already a first success because you're aware of it. These tips and strategies will help you further definitively limit or completely stop your consumption of YouTube Shorts.
✋ Illustrations by Jomo ; Photography Unsplash
Made with love in Brittany