If you want to use YouTube for learning but find yourself getting distracted, this guide is for you.

These strategies will help transform YouTube into a platform for intentional use and learning.

Step 1: Declutter your subscriptions

Go to your "Subscriptions" page, click "Manage," and review your subscriber list from bottom to top.

Make sure you're only subscribed to people whose content you actually want to learn from.

If you have many subscriptions for entertainment purposes, consider using a separate Google account for YouTube before proceeding with the rest of these steps.

Step 2: Install the Unhook extension

Unhook is a browser extension that helps remove distractions from YouTube.

You have the options to hide the homepage, YouTube shorts, recommendations, and other distracting elements of YouTube.

At minimum, I recommend removing YouTube Shorts.

The rest of the customization depends on whether you find the homepage or comment section helpful or distracting.

Some people benefit from having a homepage that shows content beyond their subscriptions, while others who mainly use YouTube as a search engine for solutions don't need the homepage at all.

Step 3: Save to Watch Later

It's easy to be attracted to novel or intriguing titles and thumbnails, but often these videos aren’t worth your attention on second thought.

This is why I recommend watching content only from your Watch Later playlist.

Every YouTube account comes with a Watch Later playlist by default where you can save videos to watch later.

Simply click on the 3 dots beside a YouTube title to save a video.

Using this feature helps you practice delayed gratification instead of falling down a rabbit hole.

The next time you open YouTube, you'll have your own curated list of videos to choose from.

Step 4: Improve your YouTube feed

Under the "Save to Watch Later" option, you'll also find options to mark videos as "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel"

When you see a video that doesn't appeal to you or falls outside your interests, use one of these options to see fewer similar recommendations.

While you can't completely control what YouTube recommends, taking small steps like this also reinforces your identity and helps you make better choices about what to watch.