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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
“How to do nothing” was nothing like I had expected. At times esoteric and too abstract (for me), Odell talks about the effect of attention and mindfulness both on us as individuals and (less obviously) on our relationship to our communities and the physical world around us. It doesn’t focus on social media nearly as much as I had thought it would, and instead poignantly highlights what we *are* missing by giving our unintentional attention to digital stimulation. Her examples range from art exhibitions to trade unions — the diversity of stories made her thesis all the more compelling.
Framing our own attention as a resource we can take back is pretty empowering.
Framing our own attention as a resource we can take back is pretty empowering.
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
There is a lot to chew on in this book. I don’t entirely agree with how Odell phrases her titular thesis - that “doing nothing” is another way of referring to doing a different *something* with greater intention - or think it’s entirely realistic, but she does make clear her proposal necessitates a give and take such that there is more than one way to achieve the Herculean (or would Odell say Copernican?) task of redirecting our attention.
This segues into my favorite part: Chapter 3, where Odell argues that the best place to make said change is within the “third space” - since we can neither remain under the spell of the attention economy nor head to the hills and remove ourselves from it completely - allowing us to resist (let’s come right out and say it, “fight”) it from the inside. (Know thy enemy, perhaps?)
Honorable mention: the frequency at which Odell admits privilege plays a part in our ability to resist such things.
3.5 stars
This segues into my favorite part: Chapter 3, where Odell argues that the best place to make said change is within the “third space” - since we can neither remain under the spell of the attention economy nor head to the hills and remove ourselves from it completely - allowing us to resist (let’s come right out and say it, “fight”) it from the inside. (Know thy enemy, perhaps?)
Honorable mention: the frequency at which Odell admits privilege plays a part in our ability to resist such things.
3.5 stars
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
“What is needed, then, is not a “once-and-for-all” type of quitting but ongoing training: the ability not just to withdraw attention, but to invest it somewhere else, to enlarge and proliferate it, to improve its acuity”
As someone who struggles with using social media in a “healthy” way, I had hoped this book would provide some practical advice or tips on how to refocus ones attention to the real word or at least limit social media usage. I picked it up because I found the title intriguing but I was swiftly let down when I realised the book was totally failing to deliver.
My bad for expecting the content to be reflective of the title.
How to Do Nothing begins with a (very loose) critique of capitalism and ends with a (very basic) critique of technology. Sandwiched between these critiques are chapters upon chapters of unnecessary waffle including the author’s personal musings on how she resists the attention economy by bird watching from her better-than-you pedestal.
The content was dull, the writing was dry and disengaging and the book as a whole was not very well structured. Cringey self help books probably have more substance than this book tbh.
Whilst I can see why she wrote the book, I find the title grossly misleading. A more honest one would be “How to Do Nothing: My Resistance of the Attention Economy”. Not everyone finds solace in art and nature and not everyone has the privilege to take their activism/work offline. Just overall quite tone deaf and uninspiring.
2/5 ⭐️⭐️
As someone who struggles with using social media in a “healthy” way, I had hoped this book would provide some practical advice or tips on how to refocus ones attention to the real word or at least limit social media usage. I picked it up because I found the title intriguing but I was swiftly let down when I realised the book was totally failing to deliver.
My bad for expecting the content to be reflective of the title.
How to Do Nothing begins with a (very loose) critique of capitalism and ends with a (very basic) critique of technology. Sandwiched between these critiques are chapters upon chapters of unnecessary waffle including the author’s personal musings on how she resists the attention economy by bird watching from her better-than-you pedestal.
The content was dull, the writing was dry and disengaging and the book as a whole was not very well structured. Cringey self help books probably have more substance than this book tbh.
Whilst I can see why she wrote the book, I find the title grossly misleading. A more honest one would be “How to Do Nothing: My Resistance of the Attention Economy”. Not everyone finds solace in art and nature and not everyone has the privilege to take their activism/work offline. Just overall quite tone deaf and uninspiring.
2/5 ⭐️⭐️
informative
slow-paced
I think the Seattle Times review on the back of the book states it best: "Mimics the experience of walking with a perceptive and sensitive friend, the kind of person who makes you feel, in your bones, that it's a miraculous gift to be alive."
This book genuinely did feel like a long chat with a thoughtful friend, one who offered really difficult and challenging perspectives and musings without an ounce of judgement toward the reader. To achieve that in a culture that is quick to shame in the light of disagreement, I love how slow-paced, mindful, and reflective Jenny Odell is. Rather than putting you on the path of specific self-help tactics to achieve a promised happiness, she just suggests thinking about things differently, and in such a sincere and peaceful way that makes you wonder if maybe she's on to something.
I wish the title were a bit less deceiving; Jenny herself acknowledges that she won't teach people to do nothing in her writing, because she doesn't believe it is a how-to guide that anybody truly wants. But as I picked up what seemed to be a self-help book at the start of my school break, in hopes of trying some new methods, I instead got sucked into a practical philosophy that has inspired me to try new hobbies and be more mindful of the seconds, people, and nature I'm passing by. Rather than "How to Do Nothing", I think a better title would be "How to Pay Attention," as we soon realize that in Jenny's eyes, "nothing" simply means everything that matters.
This book genuinely did feel like a long chat with a thoughtful friend, one who offered really difficult and challenging perspectives and musings without an ounce of judgement toward the reader. To achieve that in a culture that is quick to shame in the light of disagreement, I love how slow-paced, mindful, and reflective Jenny Odell is. Rather than putting you on the path of specific self-help tactics to achieve a promised happiness, she just suggests thinking about things differently, and in such a sincere and peaceful way that makes you wonder if maybe she's on to something.
I wish the title were a bit less deceiving; Jenny herself acknowledges that she won't teach people to do nothing in her writing, because she doesn't believe it is a how-to guide that anybody truly wants. But as I picked up what seemed to be a self-help book at the start of my school break, in hopes of trying some new methods, I instead got sucked into a practical philosophy that has inspired me to try new hobbies and be more mindful of the seconds, people, and nature I'm passing by. Rather than "How to Do Nothing", I think a better title would be "How to Pay Attention," as we soon realize that in Jenny's eyes, "nothing" simply means everything that matters.