Scan barcode
stevia333k's review against another edition
She presents the origin of work/productivity, and I'm paraphrasing: with Martin Luther idleness became a sin, with Christopher Columbus our search novelty never ended. Not only is this very eurocentric, but she literally did that timeline backwards (1517-1546 followed by 1492-1506) in order to center protestants, emphasize christian notions of sin, and avoid talking about colonization & show how the religion caught up with the colonization. This is ignoring what was happening in Europe that lead to colonizing places outside of Europe.
She's also starting from a more affluent place than i am, and while the part about not searching out for more work such as hard to make recipes, or taking on new goals that thwn require new meetings at work... Like that part was good. The book starts with a quote from 1932, which i haven't looked up the attributed source, but still.
Also there was a subtle explanation that was good about how people will look up a bunch of productivity information but then not actually do the task (swimming at a pool in this case). I think it's helpful for explaining say business or being in community with people, or non-profits. That is, like learning about say revolutions without looking up manufacturing processes.
And that talking about how our tasks are alienated from our goals, followed by an alienated timeline centering Europeans instead of the genocides Christopher Columbus was part of (to say the least of it) is why I DNF'd right there & then.
So basically if you're in the mood to do more work of sifting thru the whiteness & such then the book might be helpful, but I think "rest is resistance" by Tricia Hersey does a better job.
She's also starting from a more affluent place than i am, and while the part about not searching out for more work such as hard to make recipes, or taking on new goals that thwn require new meetings at work... Like that part was good. The book starts with a quote from 1932, which i haven't looked up the attributed source, but still.
Also there was a subtle explanation that was good about how people will look up a bunch of productivity information but then not actually do the task (swimming at a pool in this case). I think it's helpful for explaining say business or being in community with people, or non-profits. That is, like learning about say revolutions without looking up manufacturing processes.
And that talking about how our tasks are alienated from our goals, followed by an alienated timeline centering Europeans instead of the genocides Christopher Columbus was part of (to say the least of it) is why I DNF'd right there & then.
So basically if you're in the mood to do more work of sifting thru the whiteness & such then the book might be helpful, but I think "rest is resistance" by Tricia Hersey does a better job.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
lsparrow's review against another edition
3.0
I did get some good reminders from this book about connecting to oneself and the importance of rest. I am not sure that I agreed with all of her theories and it is very much written from the perspective of "knowledge workers". Although I think rest is important for everyone this idea of not multitasking (what if your actual task requires multitasking - eg: performing surgery) or some other ideas of 4 hour work days may not actually play out in certain areas - especially care work. I find the generalization of studies that are very contextual feels problematic. But overall the ideas and concepts of giving space for lesure and questioning our obsession with productivity are important to explore.
odenwesd's review against another edition
4.0
First part felt slow but loved the practical ideas in part two.