Jenny Odell opens by critiquing the 'attention economy' — a cultural and economic system demanding constant, productive engagement and self-optimization — arguing this system leaves little genuine space for unstructured attention, reflection, or simply 'doing nothing.'

Why this critique matters for understanding modern life:

• Contemporary digital platforms and broader cultural pressure consistently demand and monetize constant attention and productive engagement, leaving diminished space for unstructured reflection
• Odell argues this constant demand fundamentally undermines genuine attention capacity and reflective thinking, which require unstructured space this attention economy actively discourages
• This opening establishes the book's central critique, motivating its subsequent exploration of resistance to this constant-engagement cultural pressure

This opening establishes the book's foundational critique of the attention economy, motivating its subsequent exploration of 'doing nothing' as meaningful resistance to this constant-engagement pressure.