If you watch videos to learn anything, read this

How many of you:

learn by watching videos online?
follow courses on educational platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Masterclass, and more?
are subscribed to instructional YouTube channels?

Probably the majority of you does at least one of the above.

A few months back, I was reading an article from Michael Simmons, one of my favourite writer on Medium. I don’t remember which article it was, but he gave an advice that almost instantly doubled my learning speed:

Put videos at 2x speed or more.

If you’ve tried it and stopped, I know what you’re thinking: it sounds ridiculous and it’s too fast. Like any skill, it takes practice.

I followed the Learning to Learn class on Coursera strictly at 2x speed. I finished it in less than 2 weeks, doing it for 30 minutes per day.

My final grade?

97%

But I have a “cheat” for you. If your video’s content is mostly from a person talking, put the subtitles on. It helps you follow better and if you need to take notes, it’s easier to stop the video and still see the content.

I’m currently following Dave Schools’ course: Writing Revenue: Write Well, Get Published, & Earn Money. It’s great content, and 2x + subtitles works great for it. Make sure to take notes if you try it!

Conclusion

Next time you watch an instructional video online, try putting it at 2x speed.Stick with it and it will feel natural soon enough. If 2x really is too fast for you start with 1.25x or 1.5x. Remember to always leave the subtitles on.

You can do this!