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From Tim Mittelstaedt, editorial director, Palm Beach Research Group: If you’re not using speed controls to get through videos faster, you’re wasting a lot of time.
With a little practice, you can watch at “2x” speed (twice original speed)—and even “3x” speed—and retain 100% of the information.
I’m going to reclaim about 125 hours in lost time in 2016 using this one tip (four hours a week in videos played at 2.5x speed).
It takes less than a minute to set up. There’s just one caveat: You must use Google’s browser, Chrome, to utilize it.
Here’s how to install the feature on your Chrome browser:
- Download the Chrome video speed controller here.
- Type “chrome://plugins” into your search bar and disable Adobe Flash Player.
- Close and reload your browser to watch a video in Chrome. Use the “+” button in the top left of the video to increase speed. (Here’s a video tutorial if you need more details.)
Best practices: Start at 1.5x speed, then work up to 2x, 2.5x, and 3x speed.
If you’re not a Chrome user, YouTube has a built-in speed controller anyone can use… but it only goes up to 2x speed. Click on the “gear” icon in any YouTube video window. Then select your preferred speed.