Block YouTube while you study

Shut YouTube until the break, in three steps

1. Add Claryda to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store. No account to create.
2. On youtube.com, open Claryda's popup, choose “Time limit” and a time a day, for example 1 h. The details are in the guide Limit YouTube to 30 minutes a day.
3. In the popup's Focus tab, start the timer with the ▶ button. YouTube shuts until the end of the work phase.

What happens during work

1. YouTube shows Claryda's page: “youtube.com is blocked. It opens again when the work ends.”
2. At the end of the phase, Chrome shows a notification: “Time for a break”. YouTube opens again, as long as there's time left for the day.
3. When the break ends, “Back to work”: YouTube shuts again.

youtube.comBlocked during work · opens in 17:39

40 min left of 1 h

Then blocked until midnight.

Block until tomorrow

Block sitesWork · 17:39Progress

Which durations to pick

Four settings come ready, in the timer settings (the popup's gear), and you can set your own.

• Classic, 25 min of work, 5 min break, 4 rounds: the original Pomodoro method, for most tasks.
• Deep, 50 min, 10 min, 3 rounds: for work that takes a while to get into, such as a chapter to learn.
• Sprint, 15 min, 3 min, 6 rounds: to get started on a day when it's hard.
• Flow, 90 min, 20 min, 2 rounds: for long sessions you don't want to break.

When the lecture is on YouTube

Claryda blocks a whole site: it can't let one video through and shut the rest, and a YouTube tab already open shuts too when the work starts.

For a lecture on YouTube, keep the limit and leave the Pomodoro aside for the lecture: YouTube stays open for the time you picked, then shuts until midnight. For a one-hour lecture, a 1 h 30 limit leaves the lecture and some margin, not the afternoon.

If the lecture is also on your school's or university's platform, watch it there: YouTube can stay shut.

Shut the rest too

• The Social media category shuts Instagram, TikTok, X, Reddit and eight more at once, and stays shut during breaks.
• Six free ambiences (rain, coffee shop, waves, white, pink and brown noise) cover the voices in the library or the flat share, and can go quiet during breaks.
• Progression counts your Pomodoros and your minutes of focus; every Sunday evening, the weekly card sums them up.

Free, and with Pro

• Free: the Pomodoro, its four settings and your own durations, and one site with a time limit.
• With Pro: strict mode. During work, nothing unblocks and the timer doesn't stop, not even with your password. And a schedule, to shut YouTube at your study hours even without the timer. See pricing

Questions

What if I pause the timer?

YouTube opens again if there's time left: the work phase is on hold. With strict mode (Pro), the timer can't be paused during work.

Does time on YouTube during breaks count toward the limit?

Yes: the limit counts all the time spent on YouTube in the day, breaks included.

And my phone?

Claryda works on computers; the YouTube app on your phone isn't affected. Keep the phone out of reach while you work.