This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Do Nothing" by Celeste Headlee. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you use the Pomodoro technique when you work? Is quiet quitting for you? Does collaboration help or hurt productivity?
Celeste Headlee wants to help you rebel against the productivity culture and get your life back. She urges you to free up time by doing more focused work, stop working more than you need to, work with a group when you can, and create a dream schedule that includes leisure time.
Read more to learn about these four healthy work habits that can change your professional and personal life for the better.
Healthy Work Habits
Headlee decided to write Do Nothing after struggling with work burnout, despite gaining financial stability and self-employment. By sharing her experience and research on this topic, she hopes to help others like herself end an unhealthful addiction to productivity. Let’s look at four healthy work habits that she encourages you to adopt.
#1: Do More in Less Time
Her first piece of advice is to do more focused work so that you can work fewer hours while getting the same amount done. If you have flexibility in your schedule, she recommends working for about 50 minutes at a time, followed by a short break to recharge.
(Shortform note: Headlee’s advice to work in 50-minute sessions with short breaks in between is similar to the Pomodoro technique of working in blocks of 25-minute focused work sessions followed by a five-minute break, and then taking a longer 15- to 30-minute break after four of those cycles. In addition to working in shorter, more focused bursts, research suggests that you can work more efficiently by setting short deadlines for specific tasks. In Scarcity, Mullainathan and Sendhil explain that this is because we naturally work more effectively as a deadline looms. Thus, the combination of short deadlines and shorter working sessions could significantly reduce the amount of time you spend on a project or task.)
#2: Don’t Work More Than You Need To
Headlee also recommends not working any more than your job requires, since the accompanying stress and exhaustion from being overworked isn’t worth the career-related benefits you may or may not get from it.
(Shortform note: Headlee’s advice to stop working optional hours is sometimes referred to as “quiet quitting”—a practice that many younger workers have adopted of reclaiming their time by not doing anything non-essential for work. Proponents of quiet quitting argue that it’s crucial for people to develop their sense of identity and self-worth outside of work. Some argue that the Covid-19 pandemic reinforced this principle as work became less social and less enjoyable for remote workers. A 2022 study suggests that about 50% of workers are quiet quitting, although others argue that this number isn’t much different from the last couple of decades.)
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Celeste Headlee's "Do Nothing" at Shortform.
Here's what you'll find in our full Do Nothing summary:
- How our fast-paced world is causing us to work less efficiently
- How the culture of overworking has led to social isolation and poor health
- How to embrace true leisure to live a happier and healthier life
