Saving Time by Jenny Odell Summary

Saving Time examines how modern timekeeping, rooted in industrial capitalism, perpetuates social inequities and climate crisis. Jenny Odell explores alternatives like ecological rhythms, geological timescales, and pre-industrial cultures to reimagine time as a medium for possibility rather than productivity. The book critiques standardized clock-time as a tool for profit, urging readers to embrace more humane, nature-aligned temporal experiences.

This book suits readers grappling with burnout, environmentalists, and fans of Odell’s How to Do Nothing. It appeals to those interested in critiques of capitalism, climate activism, or redefining productivity. Philosophers, artists, and anyone questioning society’s obsession with efficiency will find its insights transformative.

Yes—Saving Time offers a timely critique of how clock-time fuels existential dread and inequality. Odell’s blend of philosophy, ecology, and social theory provides actionable frameworks for resisting oppressive time structures. Praised as “deeply hopeful” and “subversive,” it’s ideal for readers seeking meaning beyond productivity culture.

Key themes include capitalism’s theft of time, climate crisis as a temporal issue, and alternatives like geological or ecological time. Odell links standardized clocks to colonial labor systems and argues that reclaiming time involves attuning to natural cycles and resisting profit-driven schedules.

Odell traces timekeeping’s origins to industrialization, where clocks optimized labor exploitation. She argues standardized hours alienate us from natural rhythms, reducing time to a commodity. This system, tied to extraction and social control, exacerbates climate anxiety and inequities like mass incarceration.

Yes: Odell frames climate crisis as a temporal collapse, where short-term profit motives clash with Earth’s long-term cycles. She advocates aligning with geological timescales to foster stewardship, emphasizing that ecological breakdown stems from humanity’s distorted time perception.

Odell suggests embracing “resistant temporalities,” such as agricultural seasons, bodily rhythms, or communal time. By rejecting productivity-centric clocks, we can prioritize care, ecological reciprocity, and collective liberation. Examples include attuning to bird migrations or geological processes.

Both critique capitalism’s hijacking of human attention and time. While How to Do Nothing focuses on reclaiming attention from tech, Saving Time examines how industrial timekeeping enslaves modern life. Together, they offer a roadmap for resisting exploitative systems.

• Geological time: Earth’s slow processes as a counterpoint to human urgency.
• Social time theft: How policing, incarceration, and gig work disproportionately steal marginalized groups’ time.
• Resistant temporalities: Practices like communal care or seasonal living that defy industrial schedules.

Some argue Odell’s solutions lack concrete steps for individuals, focusing more on systemic critique. Others note her dense, interdisciplinary style may overwhelm casual readers. However, most praise her synthesis of climate, labor, and time theory.

As AI accelerates productivity demands and climate disasters intensify, Odell’s call to decouple time from profit resonates deeply. The book addresses post-pandemic burnout, gig economy precarity, and eco-anxiety, offering frameworks to navigate an uncertain future.

Unlike self-help guides focused on efficiency, Saving Time critiques productivity culture itself. It aligns with works like Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark or Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, prioritizing systemic change over individual optimization.