How to Save Time on YouTube: Using Transcripts and ChatGPT to Get Straight to the Point

It’s frustrating to spend time on YouTube videos that promise quick solutions but leave you hanging until the very end. You start watching because the title claims it’ll teach you something important, whether it's a new productivity tool or an easy way to make money online. But before you know it, you've spent 30 minutes waiting for that crucial piece of information. This isn't accidental. Video creators do it on purpose because the longer you watch, the more money they make from ads and sponsorships.

The problem is, most of us don’t have the luxury of sitting through a 50-minute video just to get two minutes of useful information. The good news is there’s a way to get around this: YouTube transcripts and ChatGPT.

Here’s the workflow:

Get the transcript

The first step is to grab a transcript of the video. There are plenty of free tools that will do this for you. Popular ones include Otter.ai, Rev, Happy Scribe, and Transcribe by Wreally. I personally recommend NoteGPT YouTube Transcript Generator because it’s straightforward and works well.

Summarize with ChatGPT

After you get the transcript, you copy and paste it into ChatGPT. Then, ask it to summarize the content. I usually base the question on the video title—something like “What are her Game Dev Workflow & Tools in 2024?” ChatGPT will break down the main points for you, and you’ll have a summary to read in minutes. No more wasting time.

Evaluate if the video is worth your time

Now that you’ve got a clear, quick summary, you can decide if the video is actually worth watching. If it’s good, you can go ahead and invest the time. If not, you’ve just saved yourself a lot of hassle by skipping the fluff.

Take notes and explore more

If the video is valuable, I take notes on it in my favorite note-taking app. Sometimes, I go deeper and ask ChatGPT more questions about the tools, methods, or websites mentioned in the video. That way, I can learn more without needing to watch the whole thing.

No language barriers

English not your first language? No problem. Just ask ChatGPT to translate the transcript or summary into your preferred language, and you’re all set.

My own YouTube transcript generator

To make this even smoother, I built my own YouTube Transcript Generator. It runs on my Ubuntu Server, and I access it using Postman. Feel free to clone it from my GitHub and use it for your own projects.

This method has saved me countless hours. Now, instead of getting stuck in endless videos, I can focus on content that’s actually useful. Hopefully, this guide will help you streamline your learning too, so you can get what you need faster and more efficiently.