Digital Intentionality: Don't Click That Next Button

It’s very tempting to click “that next button”, whether it’s on YouTube, Netflix, Facebook videos or any other endless feed. You start with a video on a topic you care about and, three hours later, you’re watching something weird with no idea how you got there. Of everything I’ve looked at so far in my push for digital intentionality this year, this is the most obvious problem: we let the platform choose what plays next.

Why the next button is the problem

The biggest issue I have with automated, personalised “up next” queues is that you simply accept someone else’s recommendation without a second thought. You never actually decided to watch that content. It just arrived.

Think of it in physical terms. Imagine a buffet restaurant where you can choose any dish you like, but after your first plate, someone keeps putting food on your table based on what you’ve already eaten. No need to stand up, no need to look at the menu. I like buffets because I get to taste a variety of food (the same appeal as having unrestricted access to content), but I know my limits. I wouldn’t reach for potato chips after a fried dumpling just because they were put in front of me; I’d rather walk over and get the roast lamb.

The point isn’t that recommendations are evil. It’s that the choice should be yours. So if you “shouldn’t” press that next button, what should you do instead? Here are the five tricks I use to stay out of the rabbit hole.

1. Turn off autoplay

Every major platform lets you switch autoplay off, but all of them ship with it on:

• Facebook: there’s an autoplay setting for videos in the app’s settings.
• Netflix: autoplay is controlled per profile. You can turn off autoplay of the next episode and of previews from your account’s profile settings, so check every profile you use.
• YouTube: there’s an autoplay toggle on the player and in the app.

Yes, it’s a hassle to dig through menus to find these. Remember that they don’t want you to do it in the first place: these companies make money when you keep consuming. The good news is that it’s a one-off job, or at worst once per device and per account.

Autoplay isn’t always the enemy. If you’ve deliberately queued a playlist, or you want music running in the background while you work, letting it roll is fine, because you made the choice up front. The same goes for a short block of kids’ content with a time limit already set. What I’m switching off is the case where the platform picks the next thing and I never decided at all.

2. Set limits

There are plenty of third-party apps that promise to manage your screen time. I’d stick with what your operating system already gives you:

• iOS (and macOS since Catalina) have Screen Time, where you can set app limits on the streaming and social apps you overuse.
• Android has Digital Wellbeing, with daily app timers.
• Windows 10 has screen time and app limits through Microsoft Family Safety, although they’re aimed at child accounts in a family group rather than your own.

A limit turns “keep watching” from a default into a decision. You have to consciously choose to override it, and most of the time I don’t. I find it annoying when a limit interrupts a video after 30 minutes late at night, but it’s worth it. It’s a reminder that it’s probably time to sleep.

The trade-off is that a limit you can dismiss with one tap is barely a limit. On iOS, “Ignore Limit” is right there on the block screen, and on Android you can switch an app timer off in Digital Wellbeing whenever you like. If you keep overriding yours, make it harder: turn on “Block at End of Limit” in Screen Time and have your partner set the Screen Time passcode, so going past the limit means asking someone else.

3. Schedule something else

Most of the time we end up in the rabbit hole because we’re bored at a particular point in the day, or overwhelmed by a task and looking for a distraction. Deep down we know we shouldn’t be watching all these videos, but we do it anyway.

What works for me is filling those “down times” with something I’ve committed to in advance. If you notice you’re always watching endless videos between 2pm and 3pm, schedule that hour for something else: a meeting, exercise, a FaceTime call with a friend or a distant relative, or even one game of Dota 2. A commitment is much harder to drift away from than an empty slot.

4. Watch with someone

When you watch with a partner or a group, you have to agree on what to put on. That small negotiation is a conscious decision: whatever you end up watching, everyone (or at least most people) is comfortable with it. Nobody silently lets the queue roll on.

Not all content suits a group, of course, but I find TV series and movies more fun this way. At least I’m not the only one who thinks the series is trash, or genuinely good. And when it finishes, you talk about it instead of reaching for the next episode.

5. Be conscious of your time

It took me a long time to realise that we don’t have nearly as much time as we think. Nobody can watch the entire YouTube and Netflix library in a lifetime, and you shouldn’t try unless it’s literally your job.

Lately I’ve been spending that time on reading books (more on that later this week). Since 2018 I’ve averaged more than 30 books a year. If I’m lucky enough to live to 80, that means I can read only around 1,500 more books between now and then. Framed that way, every hour matters. What about spending some of those hours building “that startup”, or preparing a conference talk? Once that idea sinks in, your mental immune system gets much better at rejecting junk content.

Tricks beat willpower

These five are working for me right now; you may find others that suit you better. My view is that no self-help book or motivational video will fix this if you’re relying on willpower alone. What you need are small tricks that change the defaults, because the platforms have already changed them in their favour. They employ excellent data scientists and behavioural experts whose job is to keep you watching, and their recommendation algorithms will only get more effective.

So start with the cheapest change you can make today: turn off autoplay, and don’t click that next button.