As we increasingly equate human worth with productivity, what does it mean to do nothing?

That's the question Jenny Odell explores in her book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. In it, she deftly draws on the work of artists, laborers, and writers, past and present, to discuss how others have grappled with this question.

In attempting to clarify what she means by doing nothing, Jenny asks, "What's the difference between being allowed to be open...observant...reflective versus...constantly express[ing]...one's rage and anger...what if there's a part of you that deserves to remain unspoken, unarticulated in the moment?"

In this conversation, Jenny offers ways to resist the attention economy, but she's careful to avoid easy answers. Though she acknowledges how privilege gives some of us more options to resist than others, she emphasizes how all of us, privileged or not, operate within this productivity-obsessed system.

The fallout from our always-on culture is often exhaustion and anxiety, both of which Jenny sees in her students. She explains, "I can tell my students, 'Oh, just get better at time management.' That might help in some ways, but it's not going to help the...problem of this culture of productivity that was never humane to begin with."

Jenny Odell is an artist, writer, and educator who teaches at Stanford University. She has been an artist-in-residence at the San Francisco dump, Facebook, the Internet Archive, and the San Francisco Planning Department, and she has exhibited her art all over the world.

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The Host

You can learn more about Curious Minds Host and Creator, Gayle Allen, and Producer and Editor, Rob Mancabelli, here.

Episode Links

Eyeo Festival 2017 - Jenny Odell

Gordon Hempton

Radical Technologies by Adam Greenfield

The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

Getting Back Together by Robert Houriet

Walden Two by B. F. Skinner

Thomas Merton

Pilvi Takala - The Trainee

Tehching Hsieh

Diogenes

Bartleby, the Scrivener

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

1934 West Coast Longshoreman's Strike

Laborfest

David Hockney

4'33" by John Cage

Peter Stephen Berg, bioregionalist

Rebecca Solnit

Janet Delaney, photographer

iNaturalist app

If You Liked This Interview, You Might Also Enjoy:

Cal Newport on Digital Minimalism

Emily Esfahani Smith on Creating a Meaningful Life

Tim Wu on Reclaiming Our Attention

Matthew Crawford on Individuality in an Age of Distraction

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