Laziness Does Not Exist

by Devon Price

English language

ISBN:: 978-1-9821-4010-6

(9 reviews)

From social psychologist Dr. Devon Price, a conversational, stirring call to “a better, more human way to live” (Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author) that examines the “laziness lie”—which falsely tells us we are not working or learning hard enough.

Extra-curricular activities. Honors classes. 60-hour work weeks. Side hustles.

Like many Americans, Dr. Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Price was an overachiever from the start, graduating from both college and graduate school early, but that success came at a cost. After Price was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia and heart complications from overexertion, they were forced to examine the darker side of all this productivity.

Extra-curricular activities. Honors classes. 60-hour work weeks. Side hustles.

Laziness Does Not Exist explores the psychological underpinnings of the “laziness lie,” including its origins from the Puritans and how it has continued to proliferate as digital work tools have blurred the boundaries between work and life. Using in-depth research, Price explains that people today do far more work than nearly any other humans in history yet most of us often still feel we are not doing enough.

Filled with practical and accessible advice for overcoming society’s pressure to do more, and featuring interviews with researchers, consultants, and experiences from real people drowning in too much work, Laziness Does Not Exist “is the book we all need right now” (Caroline Dooner, author of The F*ck It Diet ).

2 editions

Remy reviewed Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price

Review of 'Laziness Does Not Exist' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

this is good for people who need its message, but it feels very focused on privileged middle to upper middle class people as a demographic—you know, white collar people who are working into burnout and just need a nudge to have permission to take a break.

as a leftist already, it was already messages i knew about and the book didn’t give me any new messages to chew on. the book reframes calvinist work ethic and capitalistic critique in a way that might be more palatable to neoliberals or garden variety democrats, but if you know about those concepts already the book won’t teach you anything new.

ymmv. i’d still recommend it to people who i feel need the message, and whom i think might have kneejerk reactions to specific language, despite how very. . .’kid gloves’ the book feels at times.

Matt B Gets Lit reviewed Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price

Review of 'Laziness Does Not Exist' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

During the pandemic, I have been re-examining how I balance and sort my time, analyzing not just my work-life balance, but also my LIFE-life balance: chores, errands, gaming, reading, etc, are all hyper-scheduled, down to the minute. This book gave some insight into why I do that.

The premise of the book is not a surprise to anyone. There were no mind-blowing revelations here. Many of us feel overworked because, spoiler alert, we are. The problem is that, because the weary and exhausted feeling is so common, we've come to think of it as completely normal, when it shouldn't be.

I appreciated that the book is academic and educational but without too much specialized language. The author makes plenty of references to studies without getting into the nitty-gritty, and provides endnotes for those readers who want to follow up and dig into the details.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the premise definitely comes from a place of privilege. There is very little that blue-collar and minority peoples can do about the expectations of productivity thrust upon them. While the book does address that privilege, it doesn't have much to offer in the way of combatting it. Perhaps there are no good solutions, other than constantly educating and hoping to reach the minds of those with influence and authority.

I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone. (Especially my bosses!) It's a light read about an important topic. We could all use a more empathic mindset. We could all be a little kinder, both to ourselves and to others.