Importance Of Nothing

IT IS NEITHER A LUXURY NOR A WASTE OF TIME, BUT A NECESSARY PART OF MEANINGFUL THOUGHT AND SPEECH

- Anant Misra

AT ONE point in How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell narrates a piece of performance art by Finnish artist Pilvi Takala. The piece involves a rather elaborate ruse wherein Takala takes employment as a trainee at Deloitte and captures the reactions of her co-workers when she spends her time sitting at an empty desk staring into space. When asked, she replies that she is “doing thought work” or looking at things from different perspectives. The discomfort of her colleagues was apparent and led to emails being exchanged on this odd behavior.

If one were to think about it, there is nothing particularly unusual about people not working while at work. After all, everyone checks their personal emails, looks at posts on social media, answers personal calls and does various other non-work-related things while in office. The point that Takala wants to make is that the uneasiness of her colleagues doesn’t arise from the fact that the “trainee” isn’t doing work, rather that she is not doing anything.

It is this discomfort that Odell seeks to draw the reader’s attention to in this deceptively titled book. It emanates from a belief that one must utilize his/her time in “productive” activities. “Nothing is harder to do than nothing,” she says, and for anyone looking to follow the author’s advice, that’s quite an understatement.