How to Do Nothing: Book Review

1. What is your favorite quote from the book and why do you find it meaningful?

My favorite quote from the book is “To stand apart is to take the view of the outsider without leaving, always oriented toward what it is you would have left. It means not fleeing your enemy, but knowing your enemy, which turns out not to be the world — but the channels through which you encounter it day to day. It also means giving yourself the critical break that media cycles and narratives will not, allowing yourself to believe in another world while living in this one.” in Chapter 2. I found this quote meaningful to me because I liked how the author said ‘which turns out not to be the world’. I think the quote could be interpreted into many meanings, but I think that it is so easy for media to change the way people think and change what people believe it’s true.

2. Why do you think this book, released by indie publishing house Melville Press, has become an unexpected bestseller in Corona Times?

Ever since the pandemic had broke in New York last year in March, and before in other countries, people had a limit on what they could do and where they could go. Many people had felt as if they weren’t doing anything or feeling anything as much as they did before the pandemic, which is why I think that people would have been appealed to this book since they would sympathize with the book.

3. How does the attention economy benefit from our social media activity and media streaming consumption?

I wasn’t fond of the term attention economy. The attention economy is a resource that cannot be bought by money as the users pay the service or information, which is received online through attention. Social media has become more important than ever and there aren’t many people that don’t use social media in their daily lives. Social media today is used as part of aesthetics, selfie culture, and business purposes; these parts have changed social media from communication purpose to attention purpose.

4. How does this book relate to the topic of celebrity culture?

Celebrity culture is how celebrities brand themselves and transform their fame to become product brands. The book could relate to celebrity culture since social media has become really big for celebrity culture in a way that it makes us follow up on the celebrities that we like through social media.

5. Do you take digital detox breaks? If yes, describe them. Have they been more challenging during the quarantine era? Why?

I don’t think I take digital detox breaks. I always have my phone around me, and it definitely has been more challenging for me during this time. Before the quarantine era, I thought of taking digital detox breaks from time to time, but now, since I can’t meet people as much as I did before, I need it to communicate and see what is happening around me and the world.

6. Do you sleep with your phone or computer? Are you aware of impacts on your sleep cycles and relaxation caused by overnight proximity?

I do sleep with my phone near me. I am also aware of the impacts on my sleep cycles and relaxation caused by overnight proximity, but it has been my habit all along. I’m trying to fix it by not using my phone before the time I go to bed as much as possible, but my sleep cycle has been crazy since I live in a different time zone and need to take my classes at night.

7. What is the role of nature in Odell’s book, in particular the role of birds? (P.S. Did you know that birdwatching has become a HUGE pastime in the Covid era with a Snow Owl becoming a celebrity in NYC’s Central Park?

Throughout How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell talks a lot about bird watching. According to the author, the kind of bird that is being watched is not what is important. I like how she talked about bird time and bird space.

8. Experiment: Leave your phone at home for one hour to talk a walk in your neighborhood. Write down your observations when you return and draw a map of your path. What did you observe? Take a photo of your map to include in your book review. Did the experience provide any revelations? Were you anxious, relieved, inspired? Did you notice anything you’d never seen before?

It was really interesting for me to walk around my neighborhood without my phone because it really isn’t something I do every day. Through this activity, I think I was able to enjoy my walk more than when I carried my phone around with me all the time. Instead of just concentrating on my phone even as I walk around, I was able to look around my neighborhood and have time to think more about myself. I was kind of anxious at first because I wanted to go on my SNS, but as I walked I actually started to enjoy the activity. There was more to see in my neighborhood than I thought there were to see.

9. What does Odell mean by ‘doing nothing?’ Are we capable of doing nothing?

I don’t think that what Odell meant by ‘Doing Nothing’ in the book doesn’t literally mean not doing anything. I think it really has a vague meaning, but from my point of view, I thought it meant not doing anything in terms of social media or the attention economy. As we are living in this century, I don’t think it is easy to be capable of doing nothing since it is so connected to our lives.