Study advice videos are overflowing on YouTube. There are videos on how to make cute headings for your notes, how to summarize your lectures, and even vlogs of people studying and doing schoolwork. I find they are very motivating, and throughout my undergrad career I have learned creative ways to make my study time more enjoyable. However, when I found out I could study along with someone on YouTube, I was intrigued, so I decided to test it out for myself and see if watching someone else studying actually improved my motivation.
I used the channel Ways to Study, run by a Dutch student named Rose, and I watched her video titled Real Time Study with Me- Study Buddies.
I set up my study materials and then turned on the video. In the video, Rose spends 30 minutes reading and highlighting a textbook for the entire video. She never shows her face in any of her content, and this video was the same.
As I got buried into my work, I realized that I did not feel any different studying with a person in a video than I did studying alone. If anything, the video was just draining my laptop’s battery. Since it was not a real person sitting in front of me, it was very easy to tune out my “study buddy”. The video functioned more as a timer for me to remain seated and studying until the video was over.
Nothing beats a really study buddy, but if you want to feel held accountable for finishing a study session, then these types of videos might work for you. You also cannot get distracted talking to a virtual study buddy, so the videos are a great opportunity to be inspired to study without getting distracted.