Try using Chrome's multiple profile feature. I use one for each Google account and it makes the multiple accounts issue much easier to manage.
I also use LastPass across profiles and 2-way auth for both LastPass and Google accounts.
If you want separate accounts just make one for YouTube (or whatever) then a separate one for Gmail.
I second this. Chrome's multiple platform/profile feature is amazing [1]. I use it simply as as session manager [2] between work, personal, side-projects, etc. It greatly improved my development and browsing experience on the web.
[1] https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2364824?hl=en
[2] http://scotch.io/bar-talk/leveraging-multiple-chrome-users-f...
Isn't that a major functionality regression? I mean, didn't we stop saying "This website best viewed in IE4 with screen resolution set to 800x600" a decade ago?
Multiple account use is borked. I was logged in under one account the other day, but wanted to leave a Youtube comment from another. But it just wasn't possible at the time. I gave up in the end. The UI is a disparate mess. I am not a fan of the one account rules all doctrine, especially when I can't switch to another with ease. I perceive myself as a competent web user, I've been surfing the web since Netscape on Win 3.1. Fail.
Eventually though, it would be nice if someone at Google figured out how to make multiple-account usage not suck rocks. Why can I not sign out of a single account? Why does the order in which I sign into my accounts matter for so many things?