[chrsig]

Also an engineer - I've always found this to be really disrespectful. It's not multitasking, it's ignoring the people around you. If the meeting isn't worth your undivided attention, it's better to drop the organizer a note about why you're excusing yourself from it.

Making the meeting host compete feel like they're constantly competing for your attention is just really demoralizing.

[derwiki]

Is there possibly a middle ground? If the meeting is about a big project and I have expert knowledge on a small part of that, I will often work through the meeting but stay tuned in for parts relevant to me. Spending the whole meeting in rapt attention would likely be a waste of time, but not attending at all is bad as well.

As others have said, an upfront agenda is helpful.

[phgn]

That's a good point. I personally got numb against people not paying attention the past year, doesn't mean everyone is.

It's just an easy way to reclaim time. I agree the better solution is to trim meetings.