June 24, 2020

⏩️ Speed Consuming

Let’s start with an exercise. Last week, how many hours of content did you watch on YouTube? Hint: Go to the YouTube app on your phone, tap your profile, and click “Time watched”. Round your answer down to the nearest hour. If this is more than 10, you can definitely save a significant amount of time if you’re watching it at default speed.

The next time you’re on YouTube, try pressing “>” (shift + .) to speed up the playback rate by 0.25x (“<” decreases playback rate). It will be uncomfortable at first but after a couple of hours, this will feel like the new normal. To make this adjustment faster, you can also go to 1.5x for a few minutes and then come to 1.25x. 😉

This isn’t limited to YouTube though! Most media players and streaming services offer an option to change playback rate. The overall idea is this: If you are reading more, try increasing your reading speed. If you’re watching more, try increasing your watching speed. If you’re listening more, try increasing your listening speed. You either consume more in the same time or save time to spend somewhere else, both of which are quite favorable outcomes.

I am a speed-reader and that helps me read more books in the same time. This year, I’ve started increasing my video consumption speed as well. And it has already brought huge time-savings for me. For every 1 hour, you save 12 minutes (1.25x) or 20 minutes (1.5x) or 30 minutes (2x) depending on your speed. This is a skill that keeps on giving throughout your life.

So try it out and let me know how it goes! Right now, I’m comfortable with 1.25x but maintaining comprehension at 1.5x exhausts me out pretty quickly. It’d be great to have a training software like we have for Touch Typing. Hit reply if you stumble upon such a tool.

Until We Meet Again…
🖖 swap