I’ve developed a habit of watching things at a faster speed. I now have a need for speed.
It started in my third year of university. One of my profs often assigned videos for us to watch for homework. Some would be short two minute videos, but some were long, twenty minute TED Talks. I did not like the long ones. And then a friend who was also in the course dropped the biggest life hack on me: watch the videos at double speed.
You may be thinking: double speed is too fast. It’s incomprehensible. But it’s not. Especially if you have subtitles on. I love subtitles. I have them on the TV all the time. And sure, YouTube’s auto-generated ones can be hit or miss, but usually they’re alright. They’re enough for me to glance at the text as I process what I’m hearing. And really, your ears and brain adjust to the faster speed quickly so the more you do it, the easier it is to do.
See, people in TV shows/movies and a lot of YouTube videos talk slower than we talk in most real-life conversations because it’s easier for viewers to understand. If you’ve ever given a speech or presentation, you’d know you need to go slow and enunciate. So speeding that up doesn’t make it impossible to understand, it just makes it faster than expected.
Besides, a lot of the videos I was watching, like the ones for that course, were more about the sound than the picture. TED Talks are just a person standing and speaking. I don’t care if they now pace around on that stage at a weird speed. YouTube videos are largely the same. So that’s why I was shocked and amazed when this same friend informed me that he doesn’t just watch meaningless homework videos and vlogs at a double speed, he watches TV shows at this speed too. Shows that he enjoys. Why would you want to spend less time watching something you enjoy? I decided to not do that.
Until I did it.
Look, for a period last year on Tuesday nights I had seven TV shows to watch. Three of them were full hour shows. By the time midnight was rolling around, I was tired and not giving the shows the proper attention they deserve. So I upped the speed. Suddenly a twenty two minute show was taking eleven minutes. A forty seven minute show was taking twenty three minutes. I was saving time and still being able to consume the content I enjoyed. They just spoke faster and moved faster. I used to spend literally ALL DAY watching the Marvel Netflix shows when they came out. Now I can do it in an evening. And I don’t even feel bad because Jessica Jones Season 2 was a lot of standing and talking anyway.
Of course, you may be thinking, wait, Netflix doesn’t have a speed setting. Do you watch things illegally? The answer is yeah, I sure do, but I also use a Chrome extension that allows me to control the speed on Netflix, so I can watch legally there. It also works on Facebook and Tumblr videos which also don’t have speed settings. I’ve been using it for months, and I love it.
I still prefer to watch a show live on a TV screen (unlike my friend who will wait to watch it quickly online after, and I hope that if he’s reading this, he knows I disapprove) but if I’m in a time crunch and am watching something online, I will not hesitate to speed it up a bit.
Recently I rewatched The Office. I did it at only 1.5 speed (to savour it). Sometimes I’ll watch YouTube videos at 2.5 if it’s someone who really talks slow or I don’t really care about the sound as much as the picture or the info. Either way, I do enjoy the flexibility I now have. And I encourage you to try it. Start slow and use subtitles, if you want. It’ll be weird at first, but you’ll get used to it, and soon be able to watch all the TV shows and movies you never had time for.
You’re welcome.
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Coolbeans4 
Well now I know! I can procastinate with all my HERMITCRAFT! (Series with Minecraft) in one sitting!
Heck yeah!!!
I get why you would do that, but doesn’t that take all the fun out of watching TV? I’m not criticising your method by any means, I’m genuinely curious to know if that affects how much you enjoy the show.
For example, I can’t even do it with Podcasts! I tried listening to an episode of “Pod Save America” in 1.5x and it was just weird!
It’s a fair question, and honestly, sometimes yes. It sometimes does feel rushed and less exciting because things happen so fast, so I try not to do it at double speed with shows I really love or really want to understand. But even when I do, it’s in the name of time, and just thinking about all the time I save makes it good for me.
I don’t listen to podcasts, but I don’t think double speed would be ideal for those. I think being able to see (and in my case, read as well) what’s happening really aids in your comprehension. When you’re just listening, it’s too easy to not focus and miss things.
Sure! I get your point. Sometimes I feel like there are shows where I can skip around (aka Grey’s Anatomy) but I usually don’t do it. I usually put said show in the background and do something else, like folding laundry or tidying up the house.
What a great idea. I often get bored of tv shows (movies too come to think of it) and I get up and do other things. Laundry, dishes, cooking because the show takes too long. Even with doing those “other things” I often still have to explain to others what is going on in the show. Maybe double speed will make my brain concentrate and I can enjoy it more?
Give it a shot, especially if you get bored halfway through. I do think that a faster speed does encourage better attention because you have to try a little harder to keep up and not miss things. So yeah, I really suggest you try it, and let me know what you think!
Thanks, I will give it a try. 😊