Sitting at the table while your mind is in the feed isn’t showing up. It’s parking.

Physical presence is the easy half. Being in the chair while your attention is somewhere else gives the other people the appearance of company without any of it, and they can tell, even when they do not say anything. Half-attention is often worse than being absent, because it comes with the claim that you were there.

Decide before you sit down whether you are in or out. If you are out, say so and go, which is more honest than nodding at the wrong moments. If you are in, put the phone somewhere else and ask a question you do not know the answer to.