STOP WATCHING YOUTUBE

Over the last 15 years I've spent countless hours watching videos. I learned to play the guitar from YouTube. I discovered people that I admire and follow, on Youtube. I've watched product reviews and 'how to' guides on YouTube. It helped. Then, why stop?

Two reasons: videos aren't created with the purpose of helping you. What you're entering is a web of millions of businesses. Some small, some huge. And they all sell the same thing: entertainment.

The second, BIGGER reason for this — it's distracting you from the things you need to get done.

As I write this at 11.33am, I've spent over an hour researching effective blogging. How I can deconstruct this art. How I can write incredible blogs that spread over the internet like Kevin Kelly's 1000 True Fans or Seth Godin's 'Don't Shave That Yak!'. But I lost myself down a rabbit hole of distracting videos. 'How I'd make a million dollars in 2024', 'The perfect layout for your website', '3 hours of gentle rain'. None of which has anything to do with my search.

As soon as my eyes wandered over to them, they stopped my flow. You know when you're thinking of something exciting, but you get interrupted and you forget it? Sometimes, it's gone forever. Can you imagine if all those incredible thoughts turned into actions? I can. Life would be very different, for the better.

My ask of you: do whatever you can to maintain your flow of thought. Guard your flow state. Experience it. Apply what you find out about yourself. That's where your best work will get done. If you need help with research, avoid video—if you can. We've visual creatures. The videos we watch are so good at catching our attention and distracting us. Creating Youtube thumbnails is big business.

Watch for entertainment, AFTER you've completed what you need to. Don't fall into the wormhole of fancy lighting, well crafted stories, and the perfect backdrop.

Until tomorrow,

Harry

P.S. If this moved you, consider sharing it with a friend.