Pulling muscles earlier in inattentive state (11)
I believe the answer is:
abstraction
'inattentive state' is the definition.
'abstraction' can be an answer for 'state' (abstraction is a kind of state). I'm not sure about the 'inattentive' bit.
'pulling muscles earlier' is the wordplay.
'pulling' becomes 'traction'.
'muscles' becomes 'abs' (short for abdominals).
'earlier' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'traction' after 'abs' is 'ABSTRACTION'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abstraction that I've seen before include "reverie" , "Withdrawal from" , "Theoretical concept - removal" , "wool-gathering?" , "theory" .)