Youtube recently announced it was augmenting its Digital Wellbeing features with a bedtime reminder. As its name suggests, it’s a feature that tells you to stop watching videos when a certain time hits. It’s only available on the app at the moment, but it’s nice to have the option.
This complements an existing option on YouTube that reminds you to take a break after several intervals. It’s useful because YouTube is the kind of website where it’s very easy to lose track of time.
So if you want YouTube to remind you that it’s late and you need to go to bed, how do you set it up?
Both the option for a break time-reminder and the bedtime reminder is on the YouTube settings menu in the app. You can find them on the general Settings page and the Time Watched page. You’ll see two options called “Remind me to take a break” and “Remind me when it’s time for bed.”
Once you toggle the setting to the “on” position, you’ll be prompted to select a time. For a bedtime reminder, set yourself a good time when you need to stop watching and start winding down — preferably not your actual bedtime as you need some time to detox from the blue light. The American Academy of Ophthalmologists recommends limiting blue light exposure one to two hours before sleeping.
For a break reminder, set a time interval. After that amount of time has passed, YouTube will remind you to maybe do something else for a bit, like get up and walk around or look at something that’s not a screen.
You can also dismiss or snooze the reminders, if you’re anything like me and just have to finish a video essay before you go to bed. You can also set the reminder to wait until the video you’re watching has ended before reminding you it’s bedtime.
And there you go! Now YouTube might actually help you get some sleep, rather than keep you awake all night. Good luck!
