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Decades ago, economists thought that thanks to advances in technology, in the\xa021st century we'd only work a few hours a week and enjoy loads of leisure time. Yet here we are in the modern\xa0age, still working long hours and feeling like we're busier than ever. What happened?\n\nMy guest today argues that we've all been swept up into a cult of efficiency\xa0that started centuries ago and has only been strengthened by advances in technology. The remedy? Do nothing. At least nothing productive.\n\nHer name is Celeste Headlee and she's the author of Do Nothing:\xa0How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving. We begin our conversation taking a look at what work was like before industrialization and how we moderns work more than medieval serfs. Celeste then explains how industrialization moved us from task-based work to hour-based work and how that helped change our perception of time and usher in "the cult of efficiency." We discuss how we've taken this penchant towards over-optimization\xa0which prevails in work life, and applied it to our personal and family lives as well, adding stress and stripping us of hobbies and social connections. We then dig into how this current moment of being forced into doing less can be used as a time to reevaluate our relationship to work, and how we can reconnect with the idea of doing things for their own sake, especially cultivating relationships with others.\n\nGet the show notes at aom.is/donothing.