“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.

** A New York Times Bestseller ** NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Time • The New Yorker • NPR • GQ • Elle • Vulture • Fortune • Boing Boing • The Irish Times • The New York Public Library • The Brooklyn Public Library "A complex, smart and ambitious book that at first reads like a self-help manual, then blossoms into a wide-ranging political manifesto."—Jonah Engel Bromwich, The New York Times Book Review One of President Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of 2019" Porchlight's Personal Development & Human Behavior Book of the Year In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can still win back our lives. Odell sees our attention as the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have. And we must actively and continuously choose how we use it. We might not spend it on things that capitalism has deemed important … but once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress. Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book will change how you see your place in our world.

A step-by-step guide to caring for a terminally ill loved one offers practical nursing skills, effective pain treatments, and tips on handling visitors.

Too much stress puts us at risk of relapse and can harm our health, but how can we avoid stress during a global health crisis? Start by calming the critical voice inside. Combining thought-awareness, loving-kindness practice and mindfulness meditation, this simple, time-tested method can be used throughout the day to quiet your critical voices and ease the mind. Through short, accessible phrases, readers will learn to reorient thinking when their inner critic shows up. You’ve probably heard it said, and have maybe spoken the words yourself, “I am my own worst critic.” A negative internal running commentary contributes to a lack of confidence and low self-worth in many people. Well-known mindfulness meditation teacher and author, Therese Jacobs-Stewart, offers one of the most effective approaches to calming a self-critical mind: the ancient Buddhist practice of using “Compassion Slogans.” Combining thought-awareness, loving-kindness practice and mindfulness meditation, this simple, time-tested method can be used throughout the day to quiet your critical voices and ease the mind. Through short, accessible phrases, you will learn to reorient your thinking when your inner critic shows up. Instead of making a negative thought stronger by fighting it, you will learn to let thoughts dissipate through lack of attention. When you remember to “begin kindness with yourself,” you will find that keeping a compassionate perspective on all that you do and say will allow you to transform your inner critic with a kinder voice. Some examples of mindfulness slogans: Everything is of the nature to change (even me) Abandon poisonous food (thoughts) Rest in the openness of mind Begin kindness with ourselves

During his early teens, Jeff Bratton started using drugs. At first, alcohol and pot, but quickly he spiraled into using cocaine, ketamine, crystal meth and eventually heroin. How could this wonderful son, loving brother, and star athlete lose himself to drugs? How could his parents be so clueless? How could his mother, the long-term head of a private school, be so blind? "Stagli vicino", an Italian recovering addict told the author. "Stay close—never leave him, even when he is most unlovable." This is not a book about saving a child. It is a book about what it means to stay close to a loved one gripped by addiction. It is about one son who came home and one mother who never gave up hope. Stay Close is one mother's tough, honest, and intimate tale that chronicles her son's severe drug addiction, as it corroded all relationships from the inside out. It is a story of deep trauma and deep despair, but also of deep hope—and healing. Here is Libby Cataldi's story about dealing with addiction without withdrawing love, learning to trust again while remaining attuned to lies, and the cautious triumph of staying clean one day at a time. He told her, "Mom, never quit believing." And she didn't.

Caring for someone you love who is terminally ill is one of the most difficult and troubling things to confront anyone. Stay Close and Do Nothing, now available in paperback, is the first practical manual and spiritual guide to explain step-by-step how to care for a dying loved one at home, in a way that encourages both the spiritual growth of the patient and the caregiver.Dying is a complex process and the dying person has multiple needs, which the book addresses in great detail. Readers will learn practical nursing skills, effective pain treatments, appropriate cooking and feeding techniques, how to organize the household and handle visitors, what happens at the moment of death, and how to manage grief.

Growing up on the streets of Oakland California is never easy, and Tripz finds that out the hard way. He was just a high school athlete when THE TRAGEDY turned his life upside down. It wasn't only grief, but the discovery of his true past that changed everything. As Tripz finds his way through his journey, he realizes that whether he's in the streets or not, he seems destined for war.