How to Do Nothing

Resisting the Attention Economy

by Jenny Odell

256 pages

English language

Published Dec. 28, 2019 by Melville House Publishing.

ISBN:: 9781612197500

(3 reviews)

Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance.

So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of …

Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance.

8 editions

laundry0099@bookwyrm.social reviewed How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Review of 'How to Do Nothing' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

Imagine Braiding Sweetgrass was written by an annoying Californian yuppie and that’s this book. I’m glad I read it. It has a lot of good ideas and it challenged me to think about how social media and my internet use affect my life, which is what made me pick up the book in the first place.

However, it would have been a lot more effective if she had trimmed a few hundred pages of fat and just gotten to the point. Overall, though, still a good read.

Jiří Eischmann reviewed How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Review of 'How to Do Nothing' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

My rating is definitely influenced by the fact that the book delivered something else than I was expecting. That wouldn't be necessarily bad, but I didn't find the actual content that interesting.

Dave Slusher - Books reviewed How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Break the Chains of Internalized Capitalism

4 stars

This is a good book that helps to reframe my thinking around what I owe the world for productivity. Combined with Chokepoint Capitalism these books are helping give me a worldview with less obligation to churn out, to colonize, to produce, to give attention to the things of modern life. Choosing to live my boring life at whatever speed I desire regardless of how much ROI that generates is a fine goal in itself.

It is a bit slow going, which should shock absolutely no one. I did enjoy it and found it quite valuable and relaxing. Unlike the aforementioned book, this one did not leave my blood boiling so in a way it can be considered a spiritual antidote.

Subjects

Information technology
Attention
Work
Art and society
Technology, social aspects