How to Do Nothing

Resisting the Attention Economy

by Jenny Odell

256 pages

English language

Published Dec. 28, 2019 by Melville House Publishing.

ISBN:: 978-1-61219-750-0

(3 reviews)

Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance.

So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of …

Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance.

4 editions

laundry0099@bookwyrm.social reviewed How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Review of 'How to Do Nothing' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

Imagine Braiding Sweetgrass was written by an annoying Californian yuppie and that’s this book. I’m glad I read it. It has a lot of good ideas and it challenged me to think about how social media and my internet use affect my life, which is what made me pick up the book in the first place.

However, it would have been a lot more effective if she had trimmed a few hundred pages of fat and just gotten to the point. Overall, though, still a good read.

Jag Talon reviewed How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

Eye-opening book

5 stars

This book made me realize how much of my value was predicated on my productivity. I had no idea how much of my thinking was appropriated by capitalism. While reading this book, I’ve started to notice the birds that live around me and the kinds of trees that grow in the park. It made me aware of things that have always been there.

It inspired me to put my attention on things that truly matter.

Anathema reviewed How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

If you want to read philosophy/anthropology that talks about federated social networks...

5 stars

Densely packed with insights and a critical reading of the philosophy of place and of work. Anti-capitalist and introspective. Often surprising in its approach and conclusions. An excellent piece about resistance.

Turned me on to Mastodon and other federated, decentralized and anti-corporate forms of social media, as well as bioregionalism

Subjects

Information technology
Attention
Work
Art and society
Technology, social aspects