A reading-style queue of videos.

A feed decides for you. A queue is yours.

A feed is sorted by whatever keeps you on the page. A queue is a short list you chose, in the order you want, with a reason beside each item.

The practice is three habits: a daily triage, a small queue, and a rule for what earns a place.

Habit one: triage once, in the morning.

Gather the new videos from the channels you follow in one place: a feed reader, a bookmark folder, or the digest email. Go through them once, with coffee, and give each a verdict and a sentence.

Watch goes in the queue with its start time. Skim goes in the queue with the two points you want. Skip is closed and forgotten without guilt.

The triage is short, and it is the whole decision for the day.

Habit two: keep the queue short.

5 items is a queue. 50 is a feed with a different name. When a new Watch comes in and the queue is full, something older leaves.

Write the start time beside each item. "Watch from 6:04" is a plan; "watch later" is a wish.

Habit three, the rule for what gets in.

A video earns a place when it keeps its title's promise and the promise is something you want this week. Both halves matter. A kept promise you do not need is a skip.

Judge the video. The channel is a different question, and the one you skipped all month may post the one you need.

How the digest does the triage.

The digest emails the morning list with a verdict and a sentence on each new video, Watch rows first. Your part is the queue: open the Watch rows, note the start times, close the rest.

On Mondays, Pro accounts get the week's roundup of what was likely worth watching, and the count of what was skipped.

Set up the digest

What a morning looks like.

9 new videos from 12 channels. 2 are Watch: a 40-minute talk with a start time of 3:10, and a 12-minute walkthrough. 4 are Skim, each with one point worth the minute. 3 are Skip, and the reasons are enough.

The queue gains two items and loses one from last week. The evening is for the talk.