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.
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.
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Find How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Jenny Odell in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Jenny Odell in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
1 books in catalog
Examining the social and psychological pressures of modern digital culture, non-fiction writing on the attention economy offers critical frameworks for reclaiming focus, agency, and spatial presence. Author Jenny Odell entered this cultural conversation with her best-selling critique How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, which challenges the relentless demands of constant online engagement and productivity metrics.
By interweaving environmental observation, political philosophy, and art history, Odell advocates for a deliberate shift toward local attunement, encouraging readers to reconnect with their physical environments and nonhuman neighbors.
Born in San Francisco, California, in 1986 and raised in Cupertino, Jenny Odell developed an early awareness of the tech-centric culture of Silicon Valley. She pursued higher education at the University of California, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Art Institute, establishing a career as a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and educator based in Oakland, California. From 2013 to 2021, Odell taught Internet art and digital and physical design at Stanford University, guiding students through the creative and social intersections of technology, space, and media.
Odell expanded her artistic and instructional focus into long-form cultural critique with the publication of her 2019 book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, which became a New York Times bestseller. She followed this work with her 2023 release Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, alongside essay contributions to publications such as The New York Times, The Believer, and TIME, addressing topics spanning labor, cinema, time perception, and ecology.
Odell's writing style is characterized by a hybrid approach that bridges self-help, cultural criticism, and political manifesto. Rather than offering straightforward productivity hacks, she draws from ecology, philosophy, film analysis, and visual art to interrogate how economic structures monetize human awareness and time. Her prose frequently highlights personal geography and place-based observation—such as the natural landscapes and urban spaces of the San Francisco Bay Area—to anchor theoretical arguments in tangible, lived experiences.
Central themes across her work include the refusal of capitalist narratives surrounding efficiency, the conceptual history of time as currency, and the necessity of ecological attunement. Odell invites readers to reject the isolating effects of digital platforms by cultivating deep listening, care, and curiosity toward the nonhuman world, offering alternative models for living that prioritize collective wellbeing over economic extraction.
1 books in catalog
Examining the social and psychological pressures of modern digital culture, non-fiction writing on the attention economy offers critical frameworks for reclaiming focus, agency, and spatial presence. Author Jenny Odell entered this cultural conversation with her best-selling critique How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, which challenges the relentless demands of constant online engagement and productivity metrics.
By interweaving environmental observation, political philosophy, and art history, Odell advocates for a deliberate shift toward local attunement, encouraging readers to reconnect with their physical environments and nonhuman neighbors.
Born in San Francisco, California, in 1986 and raised in Cupertino, Jenny Odell developed an early awareness of the tech-centric culture of Silicon Valley. She pursued higher education at the University of California, Berkeley, and the San Francisco Art Institute, establishing a career as a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and educator based in Oakland, California. From 2013 to 2021, Odell taught Internet art and digital and physical design at Stanford University, guiding students through the creative and social intersections of technology, space, and media.
Odell expanded her artistic and instructional focus into long-form cultural critique with the publication of her 2019 book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, which became a New York Times bestseller. She followed this work with her 2023 release Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, alongside essay contributions to publications such as The New York Times, The Believer, and TIME, addressing topics spanning labor, cinema, time perception, and ecology.
Odell's writing style is characterized by a hybrid approach that bridges self-help, cultural criticism, and political manifesto. Rather than offering straightforward productivity hacks, she draws from ecology, philosophy, film analysis, and visual art to interrogate how economic structures monetize human awareness and time. Her prose frequently highlights personal geography and place-based observation—such as the natural landscapes and urban spaces of the San Francisco Bay Area—to anchor theoretical arguments in tangible, lived experiences.
Central themes across her work include the refusal of capitalist narratives surrounding efficiency, the conceptual history of time as currency, and the necessity of ecological attunement. Odell invites readers to reject the isolating effects of digital platforms by cultivating deep listening, care, and curiosity toward the nonhuman world, offering alternative models for living that prioritize collective wellbeing over economic extraction.
