Texting while driving? Chatting on Skype video conferences in the middle of a quiet café? Arguing with your girlfriend on the phone while stuck on a commuter train?

You know who you are, and the sad truth is that even if you’re a billionaire or celebrity, the world doesn’t actually revolve around you. So it’s smart to pay attention to the modern rules of tech and digital etiquette.

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In the midst of the Attention Economy, with the Me Generation plugged in 24/7, life now is a balancing act. But it applies to Gen X and Gen Y and even the baby boomers. Many people get a hundred emails a day or more and have a dozen open conversations raging on their phones via text message at any given moment.

Technology snuck up on us as it does, incrementally, and now we find that the etiquette governing it is trailing far behind. So, to set things straight, we’ve compiled the rules we should all embrace to make the world a better place.

In-flight Etiquette
Unless there are terrorists or snakes on your plane, it’s far more polite to defer those phone calls, whether they’re finalizing the terms of that big deal or updating your spouse on your digestive health and how grandma’s doing, until after the plane lands — and you get off the plane.

(Note to all those who think they have to dial someone the second the planes lands to tell them the plane just landed: You don’t.)

Plus, you don’t want people listening to your phone conversation anyway, do you? But they are. Trust us on that.

Related: Smartphones Know Your Moods

And while we’re talking about airplanes, don’t look at the computer screen of your neighbor’s laptop, even if it’s hard to avert your gaze.

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Conversely, your seat mates — and the weird guy in the row behind you — are going to be checking out what you’re doing on your computer, so keep that in mind when you decide to go online and shop for the perfect Valentine’s Day present. If ya know what we mean!

Delaying Gratification
Now. Is there any more compelling concept in the digital era than immediate gratification?

Unfortunately, there isn’t, and so we are all not just becoming accustomed to having everything fast and in stock, but we’re insisting on it. We get upset if something’s going to take time to assemble or be shipped.

And paying for it has become yet another opportunity to tap into widely available credit, so the entire concept of “earning then buying” has become completely obsolete. Don’t believe us? Ask your kids.

This has a more insidious aspect too: the expectation of connectivity.

Related: Be a Parent: Put Down the Phone

Your boss texts you a question about the big presentation Monday. Just because it’s 11 p.m. on a Saturday night and you’re on vacation in Hawaii, doesn’t matter one bit. She texted you and you didn’t respond for hours. That’s a problem.

But it’s not really. In fact, lowering expectations in terms of a prompt response is good for everyone’s mental health, whether you’re the sender or the recipient of an email, text message, Facebook tag, or similar. In most cases, it really can wait a few hours, or even a few days. But only you can make that happen.

So, next time you’re at dinner with friends and your phone buzzes, let it sit. Whatever it is can wait. Enjoy the moment. It doesn’t last that long, and you’ll be sad when it’s gone.

Lowering expectations in terms of a prompt response is good for everyone’s mental health.

Just Pay Attention
If you have to attend meetings at work or school, they’ll go faster and be more efficient if everyone can agree to put their devices on mute and flip them face down on the table.

No sneaking with smart watches, either. Pay attention, be efficient in your collective use of time, and you’ll all escape the meeting much faster.

There’s science behind this: Multitasking is a myth. No one every does two things well at once, so get better at single-tasking. When you’re fully in focus, the last thing you need is something to break that — a text message, an email. So shut it down and focus.

21st Century Dating
This one’s just a bit mind-boggling to have to state, but if you’re on a date with someone, whether it’s your sweetheart, husband, wife or a parent, turn the $#@$# phone off and pay attention to the person you’re with.

We’re not proposing that you “love the one you’re with,” as rocker Stephen Stills might promote. But the clear subtext of a date interrupted by a phone call, text message or social media update is that the person you’re connected to on the device is more important than the person you’re with. And that’s never going to end well.

Whether they were fabulous fun or a compete jerk, don’t post date updates on social media, particularly while they’re in the restroom. Really, that’s becoming a common thing for the millennials — and it’s bizarre.

Don’t post date updates on social media, particularly while they’re in the restroom. 

Meals and Eating
One of the toughest things about being a parent is that children learn from what you do, not from what you say.

Lecture all you want, but if you want children who can be respectful and attentive, you have to model the same behavior. An easy step toward that is to have a no-devices-during-meals rule. And live with it yourself.

Phone rings or vibrates to indicate a call or text message has arrived? Ignore it. Or mute the phones before you sit down to eat. It’s easy once you get into practice, and will prove a critical life skill for the next generation.

Driving Without an Autonomous Car
See that steering wheel in front of you? And the road through the windshield?

If you’re driving, that should be consuming 100 percent of your attention the entire time you’re on the move. Talking on the phone while driving is dangerous enough, even with a headset. But texting, checking Facebook, posting Instagram photos or other digital shenanigans just makes your car a deadly weapon — and you barely in control of it at all.

Fact is, the stats are actually quite alarming regarding distracted driving and deaths on the highway in the past decade. Not only do you have to pay attention to your driving, you also have to expect that a significant percentage of other drivers on the road are busy texting and messing with devices and are a major threat.

In Conclusion
It’s fun to be connected, and nice to have friends respond promptly. But if we aren’t careful, we really are heading to an extraordinarily rude and anti-social culture where everyone’s more focused on things elsewhere than the person or people they’re with, and where everyone will feel perpetually slighted when they’re socializing.