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Do Nothing: Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing and Underliving
Despite our constant search for new ways to 'hack' our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can't we just take a break?
In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside and start living instead of doing.
The key lies in embracing what makes us human: our creativity, our social connections (Instagram doesn't count), our ability for reflective thought, and our capacity for joy. Celeste's strategies will allow you to regain control over your life and break your addiction to false efficiency, including:
-Increase your time perception and determine how your hours are being spent.
-Stop comparing yourself to others.
-Invest in quality idle time. Take a hot bath and listen to music.
-Spend face-to-face time with friends and family
It's time to recover our leisure time and reverse the trend that's making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2020
1975 people are currently reading
43108 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,254 reviews
January 1, 2023
Goes in-depth about the history of labor and how it has impacted work culture today. I feel like I didn’t learn that much new stuff though, since I was already aware of how behind America is compared to other countries and our obsession with overworking ourselves to prove our worth. Might be a good wake-up call for those who need it?
April 28, 2020
I had mixed feelings about this book. I agree with the message that we are overworked and that our culture is obsessed with the idea that our work is our worth (due to both puritanism and Capitalism), but the book is not all that reliable. Or rather, the data is too much and not enough. She draws from human evolution, the history of capitalism, a history of advertising, and social media analysis and a bunch of other places to prove the point that work does not make us happy. But it's ultimately not a convincing analysis because the data is cherrypicked. What about the data on the flow state? What about all of the other non-western/Christian areas of the world that also valorize work and toil? I know Shiite Muslims pretty well and they have their own work ideas and the Chinese and Japanese. Maybe all human societies have similar myths about work because we do get some meaning from it? The author is freelance and has a lot of choices about what kinds of speaking engagements she takes on so she confronts this cost/benefit every day: More work for more money and I think she writes this book because she realizes that the work is not worth it. It's fair to say that most of the world does not have struggle with such choices.
October 9, 2021
Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee is surprisingly good. It is a well-researched investigation on our obsession with work and efficiency. She provided the historical context on how work evolved to what it is today and the ever increasing emphasis on productivity. The author searches for the motives that drive people to work more. The book discusses how evolution made us so that we work only for certain hours. We should be intentional about protecting our downtime. She asserts the importance of leisure time and connecting with people. According to research, simply having our smartphones next to us can be mentally taxing for a human being (we are not yet evolved for this). We need to trust our human instincts and not depend upon external things to take care of us. There should be clear boundaries between work and leisure. We just need to learn how to take time for ourselves, without any motive, and redefine what is truly worthwhile for ourselves.
April 8, 2024
“Do not let corporate values determine how you spend your days and what your priorities are… Reclaim your time and reclaim your humanity.”
Read
January 9, 2024skirts around the root problem of all the issues it covers—capitalism.
April 30, 2020
This book might be useful for a small group of people: ones who work in an office environment (excluding medical offices and such), who are workaholics and also work hard and not smart. MAYBE they can get something out of this book.
The first part of the book is basically history of labor, which was quite interesting (probably the reason why I gave it 2 stars instead of one), I enjoyed that part for a while, but that it became repetitive and it felt like I was reading a history book.
The author talks about how important it is to relax and have leisure time, which is different from laziness. And of course, not to bring your work home with you. She talks about answering emails (or, NOT answering them) SO MUCH, I wish I could count how many times the word “email” appears in this book. As someone who doesn’t use email outside of work, this didn’t interest me much.
She mentiones Gary Vee and other entrepreneurs and says how they tell you to work hard, but they are wrong. I knew I was done with this when she did the same for Elon Musk, but I kept reading because I didn’t think it would be fair writing a review without finishing the book. It just gave me a feeling of someone who dislikes certain person because that person is successful. AND THEN, she praised Thomas Edison TWICE, a man who stole ideas from Tesla and presented them as his own. Ok, she definitely doesn’t like the same people I do and doesn’t like their point of view, I get it. But then I rolled my eyes again when she said how important it is to actually take notes with your pen instead of typing them on your laptop or whatever, BUT because “she loves trees” she uses app on her iPad that allows her to use a pen for iPad or whatever that thing is called, instead of using paper. Ok, you’re better than us. Also, I think the point of the actual writing when taking notes is also NOT to use screen that much and not only using your hand to hold the pen.
She tells us about the way she transformed her life, but a lot of people can’t really apply that or do what she did, not even close. As I said at the beginning - it would only work for a specific group of people.
There’s also part about social media and why it is all fake - everything that you’ve probably heard by now, but if you haven’t, that part might also be useful or interesting.
Obviously, this is only my opinion, someone whose reviews I follow on Instagram recommended this book and liked it, but unfortunately, it didn’t work for me and I got very little from it.
The first part of the book is basically history of labor, which was quite interesting (probably the reason why I gave it 2 stars instead of one), I enjoyed that part for a while, but that it became repetitive and it felt like I was reading a history book.
The author talks about how important it is to relax and have leisure time, which is different from laziness. And of course, not to bring your work home with you. She talks about answering emails (or, NOT answering them) SO MUCH, I wish I could count how many times the word “email” appears in this book. As someone who doesn’t use email outside of work, this didn’t interest me much.
She mentiones Gary Vee and other entrepreneurs and says how they tell you to work hard, but they are wrong. I knew I was done with this when she did the same for Elon Musk, but I kept reading because I didn’t think it would be fair writing a review without finishing the book. It just gave me a feeling of someone who dislikes certain person because that person is successful. AND THEN, she praised Thomas Edison TWICE, a man who stole ideas from Tesla and presented them as his own. Ok, she definitely doesn’t like the same people I do and doesn’t like their point of view, I get it. But then I rolled my eyes again when she said how important it is to actually take notes with your pen instead of typing them on your laptop or whatever, BUT because “she loves trees” she uses app on her iPad that allows her to use a pen for iPad or whatever that thing is called, instead of using paper. Ok, you’re better than us. Also, I think the point of the actual writing when taking notes is also NOT to use screen that much and not only using your hand to hold the pen.
She tells us about the way she transformed her life, but a lot of people can’t really apply that or do what she did, not even close. As I said at the beginning - it would only work for a specific group of people.
There’s also part about social media and why it is all fake - everything that you’ve probably heard by now, but if you haven’t, that part might also be useful or interesting.
Obviously, this is only my opinion, someone whose reviews I follow on Instagram recommended this book and liked it, but unfortunately, it didn’t work for me and I got very little from it.
March 18, 2020
Quite interesting, I wish I only worked 40 hours a week and I don’t even have children. Everyone should listen to this it makes your brains wheels turn.
November 24, 2020
I wanted to like this book more, but it basically rehashed a lot of the information that I've read in countless habit and self-help books already. It also sidestepped addressing a lot of real issues about overworking, like having to work multiple jobs to earn enough money to survive, for example. There was a lot of room to criticize capitalism as an institution that went unexplored, too. If this is your first foray into a book about working less and its impact on health, it's probably a good introduction, but once you move beyond that stage it lacks depth.
September 29, 2021
4.5 stars - I loved that this book tackles both macro level thinking on this topic (e.g. the history of labor relations, rising cost of time in dollars leading to a higher perceived cost of leisure, etc.) and specific, tactical suggestions on how to pursue restorative idleness. This is also the kind of nonfiction that invites you to dive more into threads it brings up that you may be interested in further exploring. All around, thought provoking (and solid audiobook read by author)
December 24, 2023
A Ted talk in book form
February 1, 2020
Do Nothing is an excellent, well-researched interrogation on our culture’s obsession with overwork and efficiency, and the ways it stifles creativity and actual productivity and leads to a lower quality of life.
Headlee gives a great historical foundation and context for how American culture came to be so obsessed work and busyness. She also cites study after study on how working longer hours actually leads to decreased productivity. More importantly, and perhaps more surprising, she cites loads of research that shows how harmful this can be to our physical and mental health. It’s not just about not having enough time to go to the gym after work — it’s also about simply perceiving that you don’t have enough time to go for a fifteen minute coffee break without your phone.
She also gives concrete solutions that are more comprehensive than just taking a technology break, but acknowledges that the real solution is in a cultural shift. It’s kind of depressing, but also she gives us historical precedent: Einstein and many other people we hail as geniuses only worked like four hours a day.
Overall an excellent read for 2020.
Headlee gives a great historical foundation and context for how American culture came to be so obsessed work and busyness. She also cites study after study on how working longer hours actually leads to decreased productivity. More importantly, and perhaps more surprising, she cites loads of research that shows how harmful this can be to our physical and mental health. It’s not just about not having enough time to go to the gym after work — it’s also about simply perceiving that you don’t have enough time to go for a fifteen minute coffee break without your phone.
She also gives concrete solutions that are more comprehensive than just taking a technology break, but acknowledges that the real solution is in a cultural shift. It’s kind of depressing, but also she gives us historical precedent: Einstein and many other people we hail as geniuses only worked like four hours a day.
Overall an excellent read for 2020.
January 17, 2025
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. HISTORY:
- We used to temper long hours with equal amounts of leisure and social gatherings.
- Everything we think we know about work, efficiency, and leisure is relatively recent and very possibly wrong.
- Leisure began to feel stressful. In the back of their minds, people worried about the money they were NOT making.
2. POLLUTED TIME:
- This is a phenomenon caused by having to handle work duties during off-hours, being on call, or even having to think carefully about work issues or problem-solving while technically not on the job.
- The most common task carried out during off-hours is reading and answering emails. (** !!! **)
- Unrelated Work: many people now never have a sense of being completely separate from their jobs. They may feel they never truly punch out of work.
- Policies that are not explicitly laid out and in employee handbooks are often enforced through shaming.
- Long hours are counterproductive and have diminishing returns over time.
- “Workaholic” should not be a compliment or a humblebrag, it should be a cry for help.
- Open office plans: having a possibility of privacy causes stress and therefore discourages his creative thoughts.
- Having no free time isn’t an indication of how hard you’re working, and hard work garners nearly immediate respect.
- Americans have long valued earned status, which is a side effect of the math of the self-made man.
3. CONSUMPTION:
- The glorification of consumption of consumerism creates a vicious cycle. We work longer and longer hours to buy products that we think will make our lives better, we stop enjoying them fairly quickly, the products themselves require time and maintenance that cut into our free time, this makes us unhappy, so we decide to relieve our feelings of sadness with the new products.
- Time is money and we feel guilty when we waste it doing unproductive and unprofitable things.
- Overwork: We skip on our personal lives to have more time for our careers, but we don’t get the return on our investment that we expect.
- ACTION: take up a hobby that requires a lot of time.
- We have sacrificed quite a bit at the altar of hard work and long hours. We have traded our privacy, our communities, our hobbies, and our peace of mind for habits that are more commercially profitable.
- What was the joy sometimes feels like drudgery because I’ve turned pleasure into work.
- We’ve lost sight of the fact that productivity is a means to an end, not a goal in and of itself.
- Obsession of Life-Hacking: Not only should we fill our office hours with the photo of our pursuits but those pursuits should be awe-inspiring if we can’t get our friends to like our hobbies then what’s the point?
4. IDLENESS:
- To understand and empathize with other people, we must be capable of introspection.
- We seem to immediately equate idleness with laziness, but those two things are very different.
- Leisure is not a synonym for active.
- Don’t miss out on offers for play.
- We are looking for faster and faster ways to reach our goals, and so the skills that require time and patience, social skills, are eroding.
- Idleness is a time in which one is not actively pursuing a profitable goal. It means you were at leisure.
- Home is no refuge for women.
5. WORK:
- Work is an inherent human need.
- Hard work is good because it is the only way to improve your life and the lives of those around you.
- Jobs confirm status. It can be devastating to feel unwanted and useless.
- We now live in a culture in which we are not happy “being” and only satisfied when we’re “doing”.
- Pursuing higher salaries can bring less happiness, not more.
6. FOCUS:
- Focus is required for directed work, but idleness is necessary for reflection.
- Death of boredom: Boredom is an inherent fertile state of mind.
- We are wasting our time at work and putting in long unnecessary hours is that we are neglecting to use our voices.
- Humans need regular breaks. We don’t persist, we pause. When we have fewer hours available to you, you will automatically focus on the task at hand and ignore what’s relevant. The quality of your work goes up as the allotted hours go down, so you can often accomplish more in four hours than five.
- Downtime is healthy for the mind, and it’s also an incredibly fertile neurological state. Email kills productivity.
7. COMMUNITY:
- Community is a fundamental need.
- Replacing phone calls with email and text we’re not taking advantage of our evolutionary inheritance.
- Hearing someone’s voice helps us recognize them as human and therefore humanely treat them.
- Humans communicate through voice, so cutting back on emails and texts will help you reduce stress. (** !! **)
- Lack of belonging in social isolation is quite devastating to the human mind and body.
- Seeking out isolation may be at the heart of our rising stress. It is certainly not doing us any good.
- Quality social interaction is essential.
- Empathy is a crucial component of human life. Empathy in service of belonging may be the underpinning of a basic moral code.
- Empathy strengthens social bonds and helps to foster social inclusion, which makes it crucial in helping us fulfill our need to belong.
- Empathy is not stirred by emails and text messages as strongly as it is by hearing another voice.
- Humans have a primal love for rules. We like structure and habit and routine.
- Play helps us develop socially, physically, and cognitively. It helps us create trust and manage stress.
8. TECH:
- Our phones are deeply distracting to our brains.
- The mere presence of a smartphone is so agitating to her gray matter that it interferes with her ability to perform basic cognitive tasks.
- Access to the Internet makes us think we know more than we do.
- Tech gives us an illusion of effective communication. It makes us think we’re connecting substantially, so we missed the warning signs.
- Having hundreds of friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter is not the same as having true friendships with real people. We are overwhelmed by superficial connections.
- When we properly and proactively use social media we can be happier.
- Tech is a tool that should be used for specific tasks and then set aside.
- Loneliness is caused by a lack of intimate contacts, contacts that are rarely found online.
- Digital interaction is simply not the same as talking to someone or spending time with a real person, in the flesh.
- The loss of friendships that develop over time and are by definition efficient is probably the most damaging. Work places are not families, and coworkers are often not intimate friends.
- ACTION: Start redrawing the boundary lines between office and home.
9. COMPARISON:
- Perfectionism is a byproduct of a society that is out really focused and constantly making comparisons. The therapist will tell you that you cannot both strive to be perfect and enjoy good mental health. They are not mutually exclusive.
- Unhealthy Comparisons: when we measure ourselves against unrealistic or distorted ideals, we can do real psychological damage in trying to match them.
- ACTION: track your hours and look around instead of up. Compare yourself to the actual people in your life who are where you’re at.
- ACTION: It’s time to work the hours you’re required to work, and NO MORE. Stop choosing to stay at your desk.(**!!**)
- If your goal is to be more productive, then your hairy schedule is counterproductive.
- Perhaps the reason long hours are unhelpful is that human brains do not decide to put in excessive hours of uninterrupted work.
10. SOCIAL INTERACTIONS:
- Small Talk: Those conversations make you healthier happier and more relaxed. The benefit of authentic social interaction is immediate and primal.
- Groups of 3 to 5 students repeatedly outperformed even the smartest individuals, and they were less prone to mistakes.
- Brainstorm alone and evaluate or analyze as a group. (**!!**)
- Doing one small selfless act every day could reduce your stress significantly and increase your well-being.
- Collaboration is our superpower. Perhaps we can create a culture in which relationships are prioritized instead of productivity.
- Human beings have a great capacity for joy.
- Celebration of what it means to be human: it is a reflective thought in social connections that make us unique and strong.
- ACTION: Check in frequently to make sure your habits truly are helping you make progress.
- Your vision has been narrowly focused far too long on your work and your marketability, but your intrinsic value as a human is more related to your position in your community than to your earning power as a laborer.
- Economic growth is not connected to human happiness or even increased health.
1. HISTORY:
- We used to temper long hours with equal amounts of leisure and social gatherings.
- Everything we think we know about work, efficiency, and leisure is relatively recent and very possibly wrong.
- Leisure began to feel stressful. In the back of their minds, people worried about the money they were NOT making.
2. POLLUTED TIME:
- This is a phenomenon caused by having to handle work duties during off-hours, being on call, or even having to think carefully about work issues or problem-solving while technically not on the job.
- The most common task carried out during off-hours is reading and answering emails. (** !!! **)
- Unrelated Work: many people now never have a sense of being completely separate from their jobs. They may feel they never truly punch out of work.
- Policies that are not explicitly laid out and in employee handbooks are often enforced through shaming.
- Long hours are counterproductive and have diminishing returns over time.
- “Workaholic” should not be a compliment or a humblebrag, it should be a cry for help.
- Open office plans: having a possibility of privacy causes stress and therefore discourages his creative thoughts.
- Having no free time isn’t an indication of how hard you’re working, and hard work garners nearly immediate respect.
- Americans have long valued earned status, which is a side effect of the math of the self-made man.
3. CONSUMPTION:
- The glorification of consumption of consumerism creates a vicious cycle. We work longer and longer hours to buy products that we think will make our lives better, we stop enjoying them fairly quickly, the products themselves require time and maintenance that cut into our free time, this makes us unhappy, so we decide to relieve our feelings of sadness with the new products.
- Time is money and we feel guilty when we waste it doing unproductive and unprofitable things.
- Overwork: We skip on our personal lives to have more time for our careers, but we don’t get the return on our investment that we expect.
- ACTION: take up a hobby that requires a lot of time.
- We have sacrificed quite a bit at the altar of hard work and long hours. We have traded our privacy, our communities, our hobbies, and our peace of mind for habits that are more commercially profitable.
- What was the joy sometimes feels like drudgery because I’ve turned pleasure into work.
- We’ve lost sight of the fact that productivity is a means to an end, not a goal in and of itself.
- Obsession of Life-Hacking: Not only should we fill our office hours with the photo of our pursuits but those pursuits should be awe-inspiring if we can’t get our friends to like our hobbies then what’s the point?
4. IDLENESS:
- To understand and empathize with other people, we must be capable of introspection.
- We seem to immediately equate idleness with laziness, but those two things are very different.
- Leisure is not a synonym for active.
- Don’t miss out on offers for play.
- We are looking for faster and faster ways to reach our goals, and so the skills that require time and patience, social skills, are eroding.
- Idleness is a time in which one is not actively pursuing a profitable goal. It means you were at leisure.
- Home is no refuge for women.
5. WORK:
- Work is an inherent human need.
- Hard work is good because it is the only way to improve your life and the lives of those around you.
- Jobs confirm status. It can be devastating to feel unwanted and useless.
- We now live in a culture in which we are not happy “being” and only satisfied when we’re “doing”.
- Pursuing higher salaries can bring less happiness, not more.
6. FOCUS:
- Focus is required for directed work, but idleness is necessary for reflection.
- Death of boredom: Boredom is an inherent fertile state of mind.
- We are wasting our time at work and putting in long unnecessary hours is that we are neglecting to use our voices.
- Humans need regular breaks. We don’t persist, we pause. When we have fewer hours available to you, you will automatically focus on the task at hand and ignore what’s relevant. The quality of your work goes up as the allotted hours go down, so you can often accomplish more in four hours than five.
- Downtime is healthy for the mind, and it’s also an incredibly fertile neurological state. Email kills productivity.
7. COMMUNITY:
- Community is a fundamental need.
- Replacing phone calls with email and text we’re not taking advantage of our evolutionary inheritance.
- Hearing someone’s voice helps us recognize them as human and therefore humanely treat them.
- Humans communicate through voice, so cutting back on emails and texts will help you reduce stress. (** !! **)
- Lack of belonging in social isolation is quite devastating to the human mind and body.
- Seeking out isolation may be at the heart of our rising stress. It is certainly not doing us any good.
- Quality social interaction is essential.
- Empathy is a crucial component of human life. Empathy in service of belonging may be the underpinning of a basic moral code.
- Empathy strengthens social bonds and helps to foster social inclusion, which makes it crucial in helping us fulfill our need to belong.
- Empathy is not stirred by emails and text messages as strongly as it is by hearing another voice.
- Humans have a primal love for rules. We like structure and habit and routine.
- Play helps us develop socially, physically, and cognitively. It helps us create trust and manage stress.
8. TECH:
- Our phones are deeply distracting to our brains.
- The mere presence of a smartphone is so agitating to her gray matter that it interferes with her ability to perform basic cognitive tasks.
- Access to the Internet makes us think we know more than we do.
- Tech gives us an illusion of effective communication. It makes us think we’re connecting substantially, so we missed the warning signs.
- Having hundreds of friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter is not the same as having true friendships with real people. We are overwhelmed by superficial connections.
- When we properly and proactively use social media we can be happier.
- Tech is a tool that should be used for specific tasks and then set aside.
- Loneliness is caused by a lack of intimate contacts, contacts that are rarely found online.
- Digital interaction is simply not the same as talking to someone or spending time with a real person, in the flesh.
- The loss of friendships that develop over time and are by definition efficient is probably the most damaging. Work places are not families, and coworkers are often not intimate friends.
- ACTION: Start redrawing the boundary lines between office and home.
9. COMPARISON:
- Perfectionism is a byproduct of a society that is out really focused and constantly making comparisons. The therapist will tell you that you cannot both strive to be perfect and enjoy good mental health. They are not mutually exclusive.
- Unhealthy Comparisons: when we measure ourselves against unrealistic or distorted ideals, we can do real psychological damage in trying to match them.
- ACTION: track your hours and look around instead of up. Compare yourself to the actual people in your life who are where you’re at.
- ACTION: It’s time to work the hours you’re required to work, and NO MORE. Stop choosing to stay at your desk.(**!!**)
- If your goal is to be more productive, then your hairy schedule is counterproductive.
- Perhaps the reason long hours are unhelpful is that human brains do not decide to put in excessive hours of uninterrupted work.
10. SOCIAL INTERACTIONS:
- Small Talk: Those conversations make you healthier happier and more relaxed. The benefit of authentic social interaction is immediate and primal.
- Groups of 3 to 5 students repeatedly outperformed even the smartest individuals, and they were less prone to mistakes.
- Brainstorm alone and evaluate or analyze as a group. (**!!**)
- Doing one small selfless act every day could reduce your stress significantly and increase your well-being.
- Collaboration is our superpower. Perhaps we can create a culture in which relationships are prioritized instead of productivity.
- Human beings have a great capacity for joy.
- Celebration of what it means to be human: it is a reflective thought in social connections that make us unique and strong.
- ACTION: Check in frequently to make sure your habits truly are helping you make progress.
- Your vision has been narrowly focused far too long on your work and your marketability, but your intrinsic value as a human is more related to your position in your community than to your earning power as a laborer.
- Economic growth is not connected to human happiness or even increased health.
October 7, 2020
This book was honestly a wake up call for me.
May 19, 2020
It’s a little ironic that I listened to this on 2x speed, multitasking while cooking or cleaning, but this is really excellent - highly recommend it, especially during this complicated time of quarantine/WFH/full time parenting where everything seems a little upside down.
August 25, 2020
I felt like the author spent a lot of time jumping around and very little time focusing on what the book said it would. I would recommend reading digital minimalism by Cal Newport or taking the science of well-being course on clusters in place of reading this.
February 26, 2021
Celeste Headlee wrote an outstanding book on communication entitled "We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations that Matter." Because I found that book so compelling, I was excited to find out that she’d written another book. "Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving" decries the American “hustle” culture. Much of this book is spent reviewing sociological and psychological influences that drive Americans' work ethic.
Headlee does not decry the legitimate need to work hard and to make a living; she simply argues against measuring one’s self solely against his/her economic worth. "Do Nothing" will give the reader food for thought, but ultimately does not measure up to the highly recommended "We Need to Talk."
- Donna H.
Click here to find the book at the Prince William Public Libraries.
Headlee does not decry the legitimate need to work hard and to make a living; she simply argues against measuring one’s self solely against his/her economic worth. "Do Nothing" will give the reader food for thought, but ultimately does not measure up to the highly recommended "We Need to Talk."
- Donna H.
Click here to find the book at the Prince William Public Libraries.
October 25, 2025
This was such a lovely, interesting read, filled to the absolute brim with fresh perspectives and new, more appealing, ideas.
This audiobook was 🔥, and read by the author. !!!
This audiobook was 🔥, and read by the author. !!!
February 9, 2020
This was a title that grabbed my attention as I’m someone who has to always be doing something, even in my leisure time whether it’s hiking, reading, cooking or even a puzzle. So I wanted to learn more on the concept of “doing nothing”. This book brings home the value of down time or leisure time and how it contributes to a healthier way of managing stress. It includes studies to back it up. So instead of feeling guilty about that “one more chapter” or “just chillin”, I will actually feel productive.
August 27, 2021
What triggers you these days? We cannot mention anything anymore without it detonating someone somewhere.
"Fantasy football?" "THE KNEES, OH THE KNEEEEEEESSSS."
"My kid's starting preschool..." "CRITICAL RACE THEORY."
"I'm going over they're." "THERE."
My current trigger is the idea that I was born to work 40+ hours a week and GRIND my way to the top. Hard work work work work work. Then, eh, play. Last summer, I built myself a website and did some freelance projects on top of my full-time job before I said, "Nope."
I've already reviewed a book that suggested a 15-hour work week (Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World), and this book echoes the sentiments of accomplishing the same while working less. Look, I agree 15 hours is extreme, so chill. Captain Trigger Finger over here is just trying to make some points:
- Working hourly (for most industries) is dumb for all parties.
- "Lazy" people tend to find the best solutions to problems.
- I'm happier knowing when and where I'm going to work for the week. If I'm going to be unhealthy, I'd rather eat donuts than answer emails offline.
For this book, however, it overlooks a glaring issue in some of the credited studies: workflow.
I left my last two jobs for the same reasons: The company was making moves and acquisitions that were "good for the brand." In both cases, I went on to ask, "But how is this good for me?" And, in both cases, I absorbed more and more work with no help on the horizon. So when overtime is the standard for some employees to do the bare minimum, the theory of being able to do 30 hours worth of work in 40 goes out the window.
I do not have an MBA. But, to my knowledge, a CEO cannot run a successful company by himself. Therefore, a company needs employees to make it successful. These are "no-duh" statements. So why then are there invisible lines drawn when it comes to hiring additional staff? You would think that spreading more work to more people would keep everyone happy, increase productivity and make the company, you know, successful. Did they teach that in MBA class?
And do not get me started on $$$$ this or $$$$ that. IT MAKES ME... TRIGGERED. My response when a multi billion dollar company complains about $$$$: "Figure it out."
Overall, I align with most of this book. Scheduling breaks, leaving work at work and embracing boredom are all well and good. However, the title of this tome does not entirely fit its contents. I was hoping for a book more centered on mindfulness and the art of actually doing nothing rather than doing less.
I took two weeks off this summer and spent many of those days taking my raft out to a lake to float. My neighbor asked "So what did you do out there?" "Nothing," I replied, to her amazement. I should write a book about that.
Another important note that goes beyond just this book: Far too often in Western culture, a progressive will adopt another culture's everyday habits into their life and be inexorably changed by the experience. They then go on to write a book about it.
While transformative stories from adopting new habits, much like this one, are nice to read about, these books will not stick with me as much as the teachings of Confucius or Thich Nhat Hahn.
It makes me think of that Bane quote: "Ah, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it."
I should aim to read more from the godparents of wisdom who have been telling us the same lessons for generations, in much purer forms. If only we'd listen the first time.
"Fantasy football?" "THE KNEES, OH THE KNEEEEEEESSSS."
"My kid's starting preschool..." "CRITICAL RACE THEORY."
"I'm going over they're." "THERE."
My current trigger is the idea that I was born to work 40+ hours a week and GRIND my way to the top. Hard work work work work work. Then, eh, play. Last summer, I built myself a website and did some freelance projects on top of my full-time job before I said, "Nope."
I've already reviewed a book that suggested a 15-hour work week (Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World), and this book echoes the sentiments of accomplishing the same while working less. Look, I agree 15 hours is extreme, so chill. Captain Trigger Finger over here is just trying to make some points:
- Working hourly (for most industries) is dumb for all parties.
- "Lazy" people tend to find the best solutions to problems.
- I'm happier knowing when and where I'm going to work for the week. If I'm going to be unhealthy, I'd rather eat donuts than answer emails offline.
For this book, however, it overlooks a glaring issue in some of the credited studies: workflow.
I left my last two jobs for the same reasons: The company was making moves and acquisitions that were "good for the brand." In both cases, I went on to ask, "But how is this good for me?" And, in both cases, I absorbed more and more work with no help on the horizon. So when overtime is the standard for some employees to do the bare minimum, the theory of being able to do 30 hours worth of work in 40 goes out the window.
I do not have an MBA. But, to my knowledge, a CEO cannot run a successful company by himself. Therefore, a company needs employees to make it successful. These are "no-duh" statements. So why then are there invisible lines drawn when it comes to hiring additional staff? You would think that spreading more work to more people would keep everyone happy, increase productivity and make the company, you know, successful. Did they teach that in MBA class?
And do not get me started on $$$$ this or $$$$ that. IT MAKES ME... TRIGGERED. My response when a multi billion dollar company complains about $$$$: "Figure it out."
Overall, I align with most of this book. Scheduling breaks, leaving work at work and embracing boredom are all well and good. However, the title of this tome does not entirely fit its contents. I was hoping for a book more centered on mindfulness and the art of actually doing nothing rather than doing less.
I took two weeks off this summer and spent many of those days taking my raft out to a lake to float. My neighbor asked "So what did you do out there?" "Nothing," I replied, to her amazement. I should write a book about that.
Another important note that goes beyond just this book: Far too often in Western culture, a progressive will adopt another culture's everyday habits into their life and be inexorably changed by the experience. They then go on to write a book about it.
While transformative stories from adopting new habits, much like this one, are nice to read about, these books will not stick with me as much as the teachings of Confucius or Thich Nhat Hahn.
It makes me think of that Bane quote: "Ah, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it."
I should aim to read more from the godparents of wisdom who have been telling us the same lessons for generations, in much purer forms. If only we'd listen the first time.
May 11, 2021
I have to give this book credit, in that it did change my thinking about my work. The concept of the shift from product-based work (I made this thing now pay me for it) to time-based work (I worked 8 hours now pay me for it) caused me to re-frame how I approach my job as an information worker. Rather than thinking about my hours (though I'm still working full-time), I now think about my tasks as individual products, and it makes a huuuuge difference. Something may take me more time or less than I planned, and there's no guilt or frustration around that. I focus on a single task, work on it until I'm done, and then I take a real break. Simple and wonderful.
However, that re-framing of my work (within my full-time information worker parameters) is not advice that Headlee gives. Her recommendations instead apply only to those that are able to set their "ideal" schedule and still make sufficient income to exceed the threshold to which money does bring happiness. Furthermore, the balance of the book is actually on defining the problem (70% of the total length) and is light on solutions, and for all that length, the summary of the modern research seems mostly cherry-picked or anecdotal and is unconvincingly complete, though the history is though-provoking. Finally, the solutions Headlee does present largely boil down to advice I had definitely seen before (avoid comparing your life to those you see on social media, make connections with strangers, and volunteer, to name a few). So overall, this felt more like a history lesson than a guide for how to "Do Nothing."
However, that re-framing of my work (within my full-time information worker parameters) is not advice that Headlee gives. Her recommendations instead apply only to those that are able to set their "ideal" schedule and still make sufficient income to exceed the threshold to which money does bring happiness. Furthermore, the balance of the book is actually on defining the problem (70% of the total length) and is light on solutions, and for all that length, the summary of the modern research seems mostly cherry-picked or anecdotal and is unconvincingly complete, though the history is though-provoking. Finally, the solutions Headlee does present largely boil down to advice I had definitely seen before (avoid comparing your life to those you see on social media, make connections with strangers, and volunteer, to name a few). So overall, this felt more like a history lesson than a guide for how to "Do Nothing."
Read
January 15, 2020I read this immediately following Lost Connections by Johann Hari, and it was a perfect complement. This book focuses more on work-life balance but ultimately had the same message: we become void of human decency and instead full of misery when we don’t prioritize our human relationships. I am fascinated by the trend of articles and titles focusing on this topic lately, including much of Jia Tolentinos work as well as Jenny Odells How To Do Nothing. It’s about time we have a revolution from the perfectionist, “efficiency cult” values. I hope this trend continues!
February 13, 2023
Random reads are not always random.
This book popped into my TBR list at just the right time. Waste time, energy and effort on causes that give nothing in return, or much less in return that what is given is a useless enterprise. I've suspected I was in such a place in my life, and as I read this book I was growing more and more uncomfortable. Truth can do that to me when I am not in line with it. . . .
Amazing how books drop into your life at the exact moment you need what they have to say to your head and heart.
This book popped into my TBR list at just the right time. Waste time, energy and effort on causes that give nothing in return, or much less in return that what is given is a useless enterprise. I've suspected I was in such a place in my life, and as I read this book I was growing more and more uncomfortable. Truth can do that to me when I am not in line with it. . . .
Amazing how books drop into your life at the exact moment you need what they have to say to your head and heart.
August 24, 2020
The best parts were where the author covered the history of work practices
February 16, 2021
"Having no clear understanding of how you spend your time can leave you feeling more overwhelmed than necessary, which can cause you to make decisions that lead to more stress and anxiety, which feeds the sense that you're pressed for time, and you end up feeling more overwhelmed than necessary."
This was surprisingly a worth it read.
I thought it be just another non-fiction book advice or self help on how to not overwork.
But it definitely was more than that.
80% of the book focus on theories, technology, society, human being, evolution and history.
The last 20% then focus on tips and not overworking.
Comparing the past and the evolution of things was definitely eye opening.
It made me take a step back and reflect why we humans do such things as said in the book.
Its very honest and raw how we can't just eliminate the distractions and reasons for overworking and stress but to cut down on them.
Asking ourselves if the stress physically, emotionally and mentally would be worth the hard work we sacrifice our time for.
For me, I always constantly chasing time.
Scared I didn't do enough in the 24hours I was given.
After reading this, maybe I should step back and reset.
In a short span of about two hundred years, we have stepped fa away from human nature and tried to push ourselves further toward digital existence and isolation. This will hurt us in the long run if we can't learn to limit our use of these tools. Not eliminate them, but accept reasonable limits."
This was surprisingly a worth it read.
I thought it be just another non-fiction book advice or self help on how to not overwork.
But it definitely was more than that.
80% of the book focus on theories, technology, society, human being, evolution and history.
The last 20% then focus on tips and not overworking.
Comparing the past and the evolution of things was definitely eye opening.
It made me take a step back and reflect why we humans do such things as said in the book.
Its very honest and raw how we can't just eliminate the distractions and reasons for overworking and stress but to cut down on them.
Asking ourselves if the stress physically, emotionally and mentally would be worth the hard work we sacrifice our time for.
For me, I always constantly chasing time.
Scared I didn't do enough in the 24hours I was given.
After reading this, maybe I should step back and reset.
In a short span of about two hundred years, we have stepped fa away from human nature and tried to push ourselves further toward digital existence and isolation. This will hurt us in the long run if we can't learn to limit our use of these tools. Not eliminate them, but accept reasonable limits."
April 19, 2020
This was a difficult read for me. I'm used to read fiction, and there is a lot of facts to assimilate in this book. It's not a bad read. It's incredibly well-researched (in neuroscience, evolutionary biology and primatology), and I loved to read all the historical data and facts given in the first section of the book. However, I would have appreciated to have more solutions, or maybe more alternatives to those Headlee is offering, because the most important ones, in my opinion, can't be done when you're employed (vs self-employed). I can't work 4 to 6 hours a day. I need to work my full hours, or I won't get paid or will lose my job. On the other hand, I was already doing some of the tips she wrote about, and I don't feel less stressed nor less overworked. I will need to rethink my approach of all of this.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Many thanks to Crown Publishing for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
May 19, 2022
Absolutely loved this book. After the pandemic I’ve felt such a shift in the way I personally value work, time, and the way those two intersect as a work life balance. This book so perfectly put everything together with a sociological and anthropological take on why we as a capitalistic society work so much. The chapters surrounding “busyness” especially struck a cord with me as I feel like it’s such a thing to place so much self value and worth on how busy we are. And the facts back up that the busiest people still have time that they could be using smarter. Such a great read and super inspiring way to rethink how you spend your hours and where to place that value! Also! Highly recommend audio book for this one!
July 2, 2020
File under: books I wish I’d read years ago. Celeste brilliantly lays out all the various ways in which society has convinced us that working is the peak of human life, and that you’re nothing if not doing it - and then proffers the ways in which she’s turned round her mindset (without sacrificing work achievements - presumably including writing this very book). I first heard Celeste Headlee on the Art of Manliness podcast (ignore the name - great podcast) and I knew I had to read this book. Didn’t disappoint!
December 24, 2020
A few good ideas in here, what really stood out for me is that talking is much better than texting. I will pick up the phone more often to talk instead of using email or text. I would have liked this book more if the history of why we are so busy didn't take up more than three quarters and if the solutions were more original. I liked it enough to finish it and even though I never tried to keep up with the Joneses, I find it amusing to read that we are now supposedly trying to keep up with the Kardashians!
December 23, 2021
In unseren westlichen Gesellschaften ist "arbeiten" und "vielbeschäftigt" sein, schon fast ein Statussymbol. Wer sich mit "ich bin leider unter Stress" und habe eine 60-80 Stunden Woche rühmen kann, der wird anerkannt. Doch inwiefern ist das klug? Ist vielleicht das "Nichtstun" beziehungsweise das geplante Tun nicht besser für die Menschen?
Warum gibt es eigentlich eine 40 Stunden Woche und warum arbeitet jeder Mensch im Schnitt so viel? Und wieso ist bei steigender Produktion und Profitabilität nicht der arbeitende Mensch, der davon profitiert.
Diese Fragen werden in diesem Buch beantwortet.
Warum gibt es eigentlich eine 40 Stunden Woche und warum arbeitet jeder Mensch im Schnitt so viel? Und wieso ist bei steigender Produktion und Profitabilität nicht der arbeitende Mensch, der davon profitiert.
Diese Fragen werden in diesem Buch beantwortet.
November 10, 2021
Прочитал только со второго раза – первый раз начинал читать, когда временно был без работы, и прямо совсем не подходило в том состоянии. Со второго раза понравилось. Для книжки о том, что надо поменьше всего делать, здесь много разных тем – исторических, научных, житейских. Конкретных советов мало, и это даже хорошо.
Цитаты:
«Psychologists say modern society often suffers from a split consciousness or “absent presence,” in which we are never fully paying attention to what we’re doing or saying. This also has its roots in the nineteenth century, because that’s when populations began to move from rural areas into cities.»
«If you examine all the surveys based on self-reporting, that is, asking people what they do with their time, you’ll get the sense that everyone is working almost all the time. The productivity expert Laura Vanderkam heard from many women that they worked sixty hours a week on average. But when she had them keep time logs, she found they actually worked about forty-four hours a week.».
«Research shows that people who think of themselves as “heavy multitaskers” are worse at distinguishing between useful information and irrelevant details. We also tend to be less organized mentally (it’s chaos up there) and have more trouble switching from one task to another, not less. Practice at multitasking makes us less perfect.»
Цитаты:
«Psychologists say modern society often suffers from a split consciousness or “absent presence,” in which we are never fully paying attention to what we’re doing or saying. This also has its roots in the nineteenth century, because that’s when populations began to move from rural areas into cities.»
«If you examine all the surveys based on self-reporting, that is, asking people what they do with their time, you’ll get the sense that everyone is working almost all the time. The productivity expert Laura Vanderkam heard from many women that they worked sixty hours a week on average. But when she had them keep time logs, she found they actually worked about forty-four hours a week.».
«Research shows that people who think of themselves as “heavy multitaskers” are worse at distinguishing between useful information and irrelevant details. We also tend to be less organized mentally (it’s chaos up there) and have more trouble switching from one task to another, not less. Practice at multitasking makes us less perfect.»
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