Autopilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing

Andrew Smart argues that idleness is good for the brain and that our obsession with productivity may be harming creativity. Drawing on neuroscience, he explains the brain's default mode network, which becomes active when we rest and daydream, and its role in insight and self-understanding. Smart criticizes time-management culture and suggests that doing nothing more often can make us healthier and more creative.

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Shane Parrish: “This is a book about being idle. No really. We’re bombarded with non-stop messages of increasing productivity, doing more, working harder — all with the aim to get an ever increasing amount of work done. This book is the opposite to all of that, a look at why we should actually get less done.”