Books › How to Do Nothing
How to Do Nothing
Resisting the Attention Economy
256 pages
A quiet, radical invitation to step off the treadmill of the attention economy and root yourself in the physical world.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a long, aimless walk through a familiar neighborhood and suddenly noticing the specific species of birds in the trees. It is a deeply contemplative, meandering experience that actively resists the frantic pace of the digital world it critiques. The prose is lyrical and grounded, weaving together art history, ecological observation, and gentle philosophy into a quiet manifesto. It does not offer life-hacks or productivity tips; instead, it provides a profound sense of relief, shifting your emotional state from fractured overwhelm to expansive presence. It will deeply resonate with burned-out creatives, recovering doom-scrollers, and anyone desperate to reclaim their attention and find meaning outside the relentless demands of capitalist efficiency.
- Mood
- contemplative
- grounded
- quiet
- expansive
- Tone
- thoughtful
- earnest
- observant
- critical
- philosophical
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- the attention economy · anti-capitalist resistance · deep listening · connection to nature · reclaiming time
- The writing
- Lyrical, deeply researched, and gently persuasive, blending personal anecdote with cultural criticism and ecological observation.
- The arc
- Moves from a state of fractured digital overwhelm to a grounded, expansive appreciation for the physical present.
- Who it's for
- Burned-out creatives and recovering productivity addicts who crave a more intentional, rooted way of living.
Content notes
- burnout
- ecological grief
- capitalist anxiety
About the book
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 Soylent.
Description from Open Library.
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