I can agree with this sentiment. The thing I try to avoid most is attention to my mobile screen when with my kids/family/friends, without specifically excusing

I can agree with this sentiment. The thing I try to avoid most is attention to my mobile screen when with my kids/family/friends, without specifically excusing myself from the conversation. Part of what allows me to do this is gmail push notifications and ruthless filtering of messages so that only the most important things arrive in my mobile inbox. If something doesn't need to be addressed immediately it gets archived -- I pop all my email off using fetchmail onto a server where I do my "real processing" in alpine later when I sit at my desk. Also, I try to avoid immediately looking at my phone the second I get the emails. If I'm talking or doing something, I get the notification, and I wait until there's a natural gap in the proceedings to check what's going on, then if something requires my protracted attention I excuse myself and say what I'm doing, then reply. For example "Excuse me while I just reply to this email I'll just be a couple of minutes". If I'm at the dinner table when this happens (hey I run a business, gotta do what you gotta do right?) I always excuse myself from the table while I type my reply. My fastidiousness about this practice comes from a time when I observed a 17 - 18 year old boy at dinner with his mother. The boy was holding his phone at eye level facebooking (or whatever) literally the entire time, dividing his attention between his phone and the conversation he was having with his mother. It was repugnant behaviour and not something I want my kids to view as being "okay", so I have to lead by example if I don't want to have that shit played back to me in 15 years' time.