So, remember that whole thing about me giving up TikTok? I did that. And I feel good about it. But, like junkies everywhere, I just replaced one drug with another. And it isn’t really that much of a surprise as to what took TikTok’s place: YouTube.

Now, as a YouTuber, I’ve always spent a lot of time on Google’s golden platform. Even beyond making videos, I have watched loads of Linux-related content for years. And there are other types of videos I’ve always been fond of, and watch regularly.

I’ve never really considered it a problem. After all, I get my work done. And usually, my YouTube time is spent while working. I have a video playing in the background while I do my real work. No problem, right?

Well, in my quest to track every minute of my day, I installed a tracker for my browser. In the last week, I’ve spent over 15 hours on YouTube. And that doesn’t count any time I’ve spent on YT while mobile. Of which, I’m sure there’s probably an equal amount.

That’s horrendous.

I can’t even blame background music, I don’t think, since the browser tracker only tracks the damn webpage when it’s in focus and active. So that means I spent that much time actually watching YouTube videos.

When I saw that, I couldn’t believe it, to be honest. It doesn’t feel like that much. And, unlike TikTok, I feel like I get something out of YouTube. I watch things I’m actually interested in, not just the latest dance trends. And I don’t spend a ton of time on Shorts. I don’t find that platform very useful at all, so most of the stuff I watch is long form.

So, I’m in a very odd spot. I feel like I watch too much YouTube while also feeling like it’s not a bad thing since I get something out of it. I don’t know? It feels icky to spend that much time in one place on the Internet. But in comparison, during that same week I spent about 3 hours on this blog and about 2 hours on Ao3. That seems a lot more reasonable.

Granted, I spend all day on my computer, I work here, and I have ADD like a mofo. My workflow has always entailed doing three or four things at once. I’m often editing for work, watching a YouTube video, and reading a book all at the same time. I move my attention from one to another. It’s not the most efficient workflow, but if I don’t have it structured like that, I don’t work at all. Believe me, I know.

So, maybe it’s not that bad? If it works for me? It still feels like a problem, though. Like with TikTok, too much of YouTube can’t be a good thing, right? It’s going to be something that I need to think about as I go along. How do I ramp this down a little while maintaining the workflow that I know works well for me? I don’t have answers to that question yet.

How much time do you spend on YouTube? Sound off in the comments.