The sentiment behind “How to Do Nothing” is one of defiance, pushing back against the notion of being perpetually plugged in, whether we are working or simply managing our online “brands.” Odell grew up in Cupertino, just blocks away from what is now the Apple campus (her mother was an employee at Hewlett-Packard), and as she was working on her book, she would sit for hours in the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland, noticing her surroundings, with no particular agenda. But noticing.

Inevitably, an author’s larger concerns are embedded in any meditation on attention. For Odell, these include the corrosive concept of “productivity,” the idea that time is money and what matters is making more of it. “There is such a craving for quick fixes in general, self-help books, things you will download,” she said. “I’m looking for a broader shift in how we even conceive of what is worthwhile.”

[ Read Jenny Odell on going down an internet rabbit hole ]

She acknowledges the difficulty of withdrawing from social media platforms when our lives, both social and professional, are ever-more dependent on them. Instead, she offers this: “A real withdrawal of attention happens first and foremost in the mind.”

As this aspirational if vague prescription makes clear, there’s a disconnect between offering concrete tips for staying off your phone and trying to capture the existential urgency of our plight. How can we even talk about such mundane solutions as downloading apps to rein in our screen time when we are actually engaged in an epic fight to stay present in our brief, precious lives?