I almost think it is necessary to analyze what that relationship is and how it impacts how you view yourself and others.Īnother idea that Odell dives into is the relationship between the attention economy and our own personal identities. It could be considered dramatic and unnecessary, but I feel like we all have some sort of relationship to social media, whatever that may be. More than anything, this book got me to analyze my usage of social media in a very different way.

Some concepts, like the idea of being chained to the news cycle through social media, are extremely relevant to current times.

You are creating a cacophony in which it is impossible to hear your own voice, whether it’s yourself you’re thinking about or anything else.” In other people’s reality: for others, not for yourself. “By spending too much time on social media and chained to the news cycle, you are marinating yourself in the conventional wisdom. The book could be considered a bit “out there” on some scales, but as someone with a background in tech and design, everything she writes hit a chord. She uses examples like John Cage’s music compositions to explain digital concepts in ways that really make sense. She teaches art and digital design at Stanford University, and her expertise in contemporary art really shows through her writing. She grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley, Cupertino, CA. Jenny Odell is an artist, writer and educator based out of the west coast. To some degree, we are all probably aware of this concept, but Odell’s ability to write about it in a clear and concise manner is incredible. It is a series of successive efforts that we have to continuously practice. What is interesting about attention is that it is not something that comes “naturally” to us. “What passes for sustained attention is actually a series of successive efforts to bring attention back to the same, considering it again and again with unwavering consistency.”

The attention economy is essentially the idea that in today’s highly tech focused world, our attention spans are bought and sold by companies to make these companies more money. How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell is a book about the attention economy, how to recognize it and live within it. In the first chapter, I was hooked, and I think you will be too. I didn’t think much of it, but I was then recommended it twice in a week by a couple of my close friends. I initially found this book through a You Tuber named Elena Taber, who has a monthly book club that she updates through Instagram stories. I have had so many thoughts about this book, and I legitimately find myself thinking about it every single day since I finished reading it.

How to do nothing jenny odell review