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A review by milkteaser
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
3.0
i was looking forward to this book as i struggle with doing nothing and identify with the author (filipino, raised and live in the bay area, same alma mater!!), but like many have mentioned the title is very misleading. my bad for not reading the whole description. this is not so much a how-to manual as it is a plea for society to start taking more solo retreats and go birdwatching. seriously!
i thought this book had some good points, but it meandered around and i felt lost following what odell was trying to say. i consider myself somewhat well-read but the language feels inaccessible and i can see how some people might read the first few pages and dismiss it altogether. had some good takeaways though!
"In a situation where every waking moment has become the time in which we make our living, and when we submit even our leisure for numerical evaluation via likes on Facebook and Instagram, constantly checking on its performance like one checks a stock, monitoring the ongoing development of our personal brand, time becomes an economic resource that we can no longer justify spending on “nothing.” It provides no return on investment; it is simply too expensive."
i thought this book had some good points, but it meandered around and i felt lost following what odell was trying to say. i consider myself somewhat well-read but the language feels inaccessible and i can see how some people might read the first few pages and dismiss it altogether. had some good takeaways though!
"In a situation where every waking moment has become the time in which we make our living, and when we submit even our leisure for numerical evaluation via likes on Facebook and Instagram, constantly checking on its performance like one checks a stock, monitoring the ongoing development of our personal brand, time becomes an economic resource that we can no longer justify spending on “nothing.” It provides no return on investment; it is simply too expensive."