The five questions
Date: this year, last year, or older? Interface: do the menus on screen still look like yours? One job: does the title name one thing, or is it “10 tips”? The file: can you name what you will have made at the end? Today: does it serve today's goal, or is it a side quest?
Two “no” answers and the video waits. It is not deleted. It is not today's lesson.
Why the date and the interface come first
Tools change their menus every few months. A great 2022 tutorial on a button that moved is twenty minutes of searching for something that is not there anymore.
Check the upload date, then skip to any minute and compare the screen with yours. That takes ten seconds.
Side by side
| Thumbnail | Lesson | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | The click | The next step |
| Title | 10 tips, best of | One job |
| Date | Hidden | Checked first |
| End | Another suggestion | A file you can name |
| Verdict | Watch to find out | Keep or skip in a minute |
Do this tonight
- 1
Open the next tutorial on your list. Before pressing play, answer the five questions.
- 2
Skip it if two answers are no. Keep it if you can name the file it should produce.
- 3
Watch only the kept one, with your project open next to it.
Common mistake
Judging a tutorial by its views. A video with two million views from 2021 can teach an interface that no longer exists. A small channel from last month can show the exact menu you have today.