I feel much the same as you, smoking to me was always an easily excusable pretext to be alone or speak to complete strangers as required.

I also felt it helped to bridge the strata in the workplace, as a junior I'd often end up sharing a cigarette with an exec or manager of some kind and hear about goings on in a different part of the company or from a higher level which would help to piece together the puzzle of how the business was being run.

It's been many years since I've smoked habitually, a few months since doing so socially, I don't feel the urge, but I do miss the idle moments it allowed for.

There really is nothing quite like it. The closest thing I've found is tending to weeds in my back garden.