A welcome antidote to our toxic hustle culture of burnout.”—Arianna Huffington This book is so
important and could truly save lives.”—Elizabeth Gilbert A clarion call to work smarter [and]
accomplish more by doing less.”—Adam Grant We work feverishly to make ourselves happy. So why
are we so miserable? Despite our constant search for new ways to optimize our bodies and minds
for peak performance human beings are working more instead of less living harder not smarter
and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our
lives ignoring what we do well naturally and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and
higher. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can’t we just
take a break? In Do Nothing award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path
ahead seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our
well-being put work aside and start living instead of doing. As it turns out we’re searching
for external solutions to an internal problem. We won’t find what we’re searching for in
punishing diets productivity apps or the latest self-improvement schemes. Yet all is not
lost—we just need to learn how to take time for ourselves without agenda or profit and
redefine what is truly worthwhile. Pulling together threads from history neuroscience social
science and even paleontology Headlee examines long-held assumptions about time use idleness
hard work and even our ultimate goals. Her research reveals that the habits we cling to are
doing us harm they developed recently in human history which means they are habits that can
and must be broken. It’s time to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder sicker and
less productive and return to a way of life that allows us to thrive.
