Time Spent
Notes on Life Outside of Work
The working world teaches us so much about how to organize and understand a life: what counts as expertise, how we value our time, where we belong, even which years of a life we consider most valuable. What happens to those ideas when work is no longer the organizing principle—during caregiving, parenthood, sabbatical, retirement, transition, or simply a period of questioning? Journalism trains you to offer tidy stories, but I have none. Art, on the other hand, offers space. Time Spent is a nonfiction book published by mail in six handmade installments. Each edition takes up one part of life outside of work through research, personal writing and collected notes.
The project grew out of a newsletter I wrote from 2019 to 2026 about how we spend our time outside of work. Over six years and 100+ letters, that personal inquiry collided with a world asking many of the same questions through a pandemic, an awakening around care work, and the transformation of knowledge work through intelligent tools. Each edition is printed and hand-sewn at my dining table in San Francisco and meant for reading and thinking away from the internet. You can purchase the full series or buy an individual edition below.
$180—six editions mailed over a year
Buy the SeriesIf cost is prohibitive, reach out.
Subscriptions can also be sent as gifts.
Edition No. 1: Expertise
Expertise looks at what we know outside the traditional structures of work and why some forms of knowledge are easier to recognize and value than others. Its central question is: How can I learn to value what I notice as much as what I’ve been taught?
$30—mailed individually
Buy ExpertiseThe Library
A standing reference of books that have informed this work, organized into themes. Visit →