As I just introduced a lot of content from productivity youtube into the ecosystem of my channel, I want to pass on a message to everyone to remind them that life is not always about productivity. Many YouTubers in the productivity space push that life is all about waking up at 4 AM and being a well-oiled machine until 8 PM. That may be great for them, but know that it may not be great for you. It is all about finding the right balance. Whenever there exists a duality, the right answer is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes (the other extreme would be doing absolutely nothing).
Productivity YouTube plays to the algorithm in a few ways, but I want to make you aware of their main trope. They will try pretty much anything and state that it somehow transformed their lives. This wording creates an emotional response that draws you into clicking the video because deep down we all want transformation. Productivity youtube unknowingly tricks people to try a bunch of things with abnormally high expectations/standards. The viewer may feel discouraged because they never received the transformation that they were promised. The true route of transformation is applying discipline to a repeated system that is of your own design. Staying true to that (even if it is broken) will yield you the results you are looking for if you are open to making adjustments along the way. When looking at the videos you should have the mindset of "can I apply this to an existing routine I have?". In other words, do not throw out the baby with the bathwater if you already have something that works for you.
A lot of people are missing some proper productivity in their lives, so it is important to be aware that an area like Productivity YouTube exists. However, if you fall too deeply into their traps you end up getting frustrated instead, which ends up making things worse, not better. I believe productivity should be about getting the most out of living with your unique skillset and unique set of desires. Sometimes it won't look like an elaborate morning routine, it won't look like constantly optimizing your life, or missing out on the fun to save a few bucks. It is about investing time or capital to create, find or buy tools that will improve your existing systems to create more room in your life for the things that matter or to make life more enjoyable.
Some productivity people I enjoy to watch and learn from:
Jeff Su is a Productivity YouTuber that focuses on improving the speed at which you complete work tasks in the corporate world to deliver more value in the workplace. Appsumo is a marketplace that lists applications that can be leveraged to make your hobbies a little bit easier. Better Ideas is a channel that features productivity with a mix of stoicsm that teaches you some systems to overcome common problems. Ali Abdaal is a Productivity YouTuber that balanced med school and his side hustle and shared some of his tips along the way. Productivity Game is a YouTube channel focused on sharing books that most likely inspired the YouTubers I mentioned above it you want to get information from the source.