The Emotional Impact of Educational Productivity Videos on YouTube: A Global, Cross-Sectional Survey

Introduction: YouTube is the most popular video-sharing website and a common source of educational content for students. A prominent category is “productivity” videos that teach strategies to study more efficiently, reshape habits, and set goals. Little research has examined whether these videos promote positive or negative feelings among viewers. Methods: A Qualtrics survey was shared via YouTube and Instagram to assess exposure to productivity videos, perceived helpfulness (1–10), and feelings elicited (anxious, motivated, inspired, neutral/indifferent, inadequate). Free-response items captured perceptions and suggestions for improvement. Results: The survey received 595 responses across 60 countries (majority from the United States; average age 22 years). Of these, 494 reported watching productivity videos; 127 felt anxious, 357 motivated, 308 inspired, 95 neutral/indifferent, and 97 inadequate. The average helpfulness rating was 6.8/10. Conclusion: Most viewers feel motivated or inspired by productivity videos. Free responses suggested these videos could be more effective if they showed relatable routines and addressed what to do when goals are not met.

Shaun Andersen, Deepal Patel, Andy Nguyen, Prerak Juthani, Kinza Hussain, Joshua Chen, Martin Rutkowski