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651 reviews for:
Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving
Celeste Headlee
3.87 AVERAGE
651 reviews for:
Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving
Celeste Headlee
3.87 AVERAGE
Headlee did a great job of walking us through the history of capitalism and its impact on our work ethic. The best part of the book was rethinking how I schedule my day during the pandemic-forced work from home.
The book talks about many anecdotal as well as studied nuances about today's work life.
Starting from how people used to work before the industrial revolution. How people had very busy periods when they worked long days, but these were balanced out by more leisurely times. With moving to towns and cities and the industrial revolution we have been thought to be busy all the time and to work long hours.
The book shows in many different ways how moving towards regular breaks, a 4-day work week, balancing work with hobbies and social time you will feel more fulfilled, relaxed and (most importantly?) you will not be less productive. The human mind is not meant to focus 8-10 hours a day. Most people should work 40-60 minutes in a row and take breaks. In a study average break time was 17 minutes and working like this you will be much more productive. Also, the author recommends checking email just a few times a week (if possible) or at least setting concrete times for it and letting everyone know that you will not reply straight away.
And NO multitasking, human brains cant really do that, we switch and lose time with each switch.
Starting from how people used to work before the industrial revolution. How people had very busy periods when they worked long days, but these were balanced out by more leisurely times. With moving to towns and cities and the industrial revolution we have been thought to be busy all the time and to work long hours.
The book shows in many different ways how moving towards regular breaks, a 4-day work week, balancing work with hobbies and social time you will feel more fulfilled, relaxed and (most importantly?) you will not be less productive. The human mind is not meant to focus 8-10 hours a day. Most people should work 40-60 minutes in a row and take breaks. In a study average break time was 17 minutes and working like this you will be much more productive. Also, the author recommends checking email just a few times a week (if possible) or at least setting concrete times for it and letting everyone know that you will not reply straight away.
And NO multitasking, human brains cant really do that, we switch and lose time with each switch.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Advice that we all know, but a good reminder to slow down, get out in nature and work less.
Some interesting research and statistics but nothing insightful or new that hasn't been said before.
I really wanted to dislike this book, but I couldn’t. It’s such a phenomenal book, and Celeste did an incredible job with it. I had her on my podcast a while back for her newer book Speaking of Race, and I finally got around to reading this one. I could talk about this book all day. In short, the book is about how we need to find more time to just do nothing and not fill every minute of our schedules, and most importantly, we need to stop overworking ourselves for no good reason.
I’m a workaholic, but it’s because I have to be. The economy sucks. The wealth gap is insane. The current form of capitalism isn’t working for most of us. So, when I picked up this book, I was ready to argue with it from start to finish, but Celeste shut me up pretty quick. Throughout the book, she discusses that not all of us can choose to work less, and she dedicates some time toward the end of the book to discuss some political changes that must be made so we can work less.
Overall, I think my favorite part of the book is when she explains how most of us think we’re busier than we are. The reality is, and it’s backed by research, most of us waste insane amounts of time during the day. For example, messing around on social media or slacking at work and then realizing you have to catch up doesn’t mean you’re overworked. I’m one of the busiest people I know, and I still have a ton of free time. When I work with people on their time issues, we always find where they waste a bunch of time. Celeste discusses some ways she was able to stop cutting out some of these time wasters in her life.
Lastly, I also loved how she discussed how we love telling people how busy we are because it’s become a sort of status signal to others. This is something we all need to stop doing because it’s only encouraging others to stay busy and work themselves to death (and yes, I know I just mentioned how busy I am above, but it was to prove a point about how much free time I have as well, so chill).
This is a fantastic book, and I really hope more people read it. Even though I already do some of the tips from this book, I was introduced to new research and also gained some new tools for living a less stressful life.
I’m a workaholic, but it’s because I have to be. The economy sucks. The wealth gap is insane. The current form of capitalism isn’t working for most of us. So, when I picked up this book, I was ready to argue with it from start to finish, but Celeste shut me up pretty quick. Throughout the book, she discusses that not all of us can choose to work less, and she dedicates some time toward the end of the book to discuss some political changes that must be made so we can work less.
Overall, I think my favorite part of the book is when she explains how most of us think we’re busier than we are. The reality is, and it’s backed by research, most of us waste insane amounts of time during the day. For example, messing around on social media or slacking at work and then realizing you have to catch up doesn’t mean you’re overworked. I’m one of the busiest people I know, and I still have a ton of free time. When I work with people on their time issues, we always find where they waste a bunch of time. Celeste discusses some ways she was able to stop cutting out some of these time wasters in her life.
Lastly, I also loved how she discussed how we love telling people how busy we are because it’s become a sort of status signal to others. This is something we all need to stop doing because it’s only encouraging others to stay busy and work themselves to death (and yes, I know I just mentioned how busy I am above, but it was to prove a point about how much free time I have as well, so chill).
This is a fantastic book, and I really hope more people read it. Even though I already do some of the tips from this book, I was introduced to new research and also gained some new tools for living a less stressful life.
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Can feel a tad repetitive, but it so important to consider the concept of slowing down so I am rounding up to four stars. Great tips!