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650 reviews for:
Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving
Celeste Headlee
3.87 AVERAGE
650 reviews for:
Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving
Celeste Headlee
3.87 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
I feel like most of this book was written for a specific audience (people who work salaried jobs, not stay-at-home-moms or hourly workers, etc.). She says as much on p. 16: "For our purposes, I'm only talking about working hours and nonworking hours. I'm not including the amount of time it takes to do laundry and cook meals and travel, even though that is work." And on p. 196: "Obviously, this only applies to people who have some flexibility in their schedules and who find themselves answering emails and texts over the weekend. If you're working an hourly job and need every cent of your paycheck in order to make ends meet, working less is probably not possible." I wish the book had been sold in a way that indicated who it was and wasn't for.
However, I found the "Take the Long View" chapter useful enough to recommend the book. The author's description of how (and why) to determine your end goals made sense to me in a way that similar writings haven't.
[Also, I'm sure I'm being fussy about the style, but I prefer that endnotes be referenced somehow in the text. Without clear citations, I assumed some of these were just the author's opinions.]
However, I found the "Take the Long View" chapter useful enough to recommend the book. The author's description of how (and why) to determine your end goals made sense to me in a way that similar writings haven't.
[Also, I'm sure I'm being fussy about the style, but I prefer that endnotes be referenced somehow in the text. Without clear citations, I assumed some of these were just the author's opinions.]
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.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I found this interesting and informative, though maybe not revolutionary. I liked the individual tips the author shared for how to begin to disengage from productivity obsession and the glorification of "hard work" for it's own sake, but I feel like books like this always leave me feeling a little disappointing because the SYSTEM needs to change more than individuals, and there's never an much discussion of that. She acknowledges occasionally throughout and in the conclusion but systemic changes that could create chance didn't even have their own section. I guess that could be a whole separate book though...
Loved this woman's TedTalk so of course I had to read her books. This one in particular appealed to me as in the past I've considered myself a workaholic.
It flips the notion that "the more you work you do, the more productive/valuable you are as an employee" on it's head. Celeste argues that the opposite/version of the opposite may in fact be true.
Definitely some nuggets I'll be trying on my end- especially with my own employees. Excited to have the chance to see her at the #natbookfest next weekend.
It flips the notion that "the more you work you do, the more productive/valuable you are as an employee" on it's head. Celeste argues that the opposite/version of the opposite may in fact be true.
Definitely some nuggets I'll be trying on my end- especially with my own employees. Excited to have the chance to see her at the #natbookfest next weekend.