Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee

Wandering through Sherman’s Bookstore in Bar Harbor, ME (one of my absolute favorite indie bookstores!), I wasn’t really looking to buy anything — or at least that’s what I told myself. I was absorbing the atmosphere and watching my daughter hunt for her next good read. This book caught my eye, so I gave it a quick perusal and then added it to my daughter’s pile for checkout. Sherman’s has never let me down, and it didn’t this time either.

Who is this book for?

This is another book that is for anyone — well, more specifically, anyone looking for alternative perspectives about work, time, productivity, and rest. If you ever feel overwhelmed by your to-do list, feel like you don’t have downtime, are tired of the rat race, or can never seem to get a hold on that elusive “work-life balance,” those are probably indicators that this book may be for you. It can help you see another way to live and engage with life.

I might also suggest it for people who are chronically trying to improve their productivity, be more efficient in their work, or who see being busy as a badge of honor. The suggestions in this book may surprise you in their effectiveness.

How can it help?

“I want to be clear from the start that I think it’s good to look for opportunities to improve yourself. That’s a wonderful impulse. But, as with technology, the problem is not in the tool but with the overuse. Improvement is healthy, but not every moment of your day should be leveraged in an attempt to make you a better person… you have no time left for being the person you are.” (p. 81–82)

Yes! I love self-improvement and growth (as is evidenced by the kinds of books I read), but it is a good reminder that, as Mister Rogers used to say, “There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.”

This book starts with a general exploration of the history of how we use and relate to time. It is quite illuminating and gives a bit of perspective on the origins of the patterns we find ourselves in. It really gave me pause to think about how much we want to be a part of a system that doesn’t serve us — and maybe never really did.

There are some interesting experiments proposed throughout the book, and I have to tell you, I was surprised at how hard some of them were. For example: one task at a time with frequent breaks. (I have to laugh because even as I write this, I’ve responded to a series of texts and checked email.) This task-switching looks like productivity, but in fact it robs us of mental and emotional energy and ultimately makes us feel tired and frazzled.

I did try the experiment for a short while and found I got my tasks done in less time and felt less tired or drained afterward. Giving myself permission to take breaks when I started to feel distracted — or feel the need for distraction — also worked better than I had thought. It seems counterproductive to stop working instead of pushing through, but in fact I returned to the task much more quickly and focused better than I expected.

Best takeaways

We need breaks throughout the day, and we need more leisure (read: hobbies and fun). Human brains are not designed for excessive hours of uninterrupted work. Wow! It has been shown that people who put in excessive hours are often the least productive. The most productive were people who worked 10–20 hours per week, 2–5 hours per day. Hello?!?! What?!

Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been in competition with the machine. We invent new ways to give ourselves time using technology, but often we don’t use that time to benefit our health by doing less — we just end up filling that time with more, or trying to compete against a machine we can’t beat. (I’m looking at you, steam engine and AI. Different eras, same game.)

Personally, the biggest “aha” moment I had was around leisure. I discovered that I didn’t actually have leisure time. (I sincerely hope that this is not your experience.) I had “downtime,” which was me not trying to engage in things related to work, productivity, or parenting — like watching TV or literally sitting around seeking relaxation and the feeling of chill — but it never really came and, ironically, still felt a little like striving.

The author talks about making time for hobbies. Consider the things that you do solely for the sake of doing them. How long is that list? I realized that my list had gotten very short — or maybe non-existent. I hope yours is robust and healthy, but if it’s more like mine, take some time to consider the things you used to enjoy just for the fun of it. Can you work those back into your life?

I also love the focus on aligning values with goals. She calls this “Means and Ends,” with an emphasis on the Ends, not the Means. Moving in the direction of the things that are important is more important than the minutiae of getting there — those details are actually flexible. Along those lines, she offers a list of solutions designed to help you separate from the preoccupation with “efficiency without purpose and productivity without production.” But you’ll have to read the book to find out what those are. 🙂

Would I recommend it?

This is a resounding yes, which was actually a bit surprising. The book started a little slow for me, as it is similar to other books of its kind that I have read, like Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman (which is titled for the average number of weeks in a human life… that was heavy). However, I found that it offered a lot of really great experiments and opportunities to explore how we look at work and leisure in a way the other books didn’t.

I also appreciated her personal experience with both overworking and her attempts at change. This book was definitely a perspective changer and one that I very much appreciated. I hope you do too.

Get your copy here!