For what it's worth, like Louis I've found "just using common sense" to be good protection against ESD. I made a conscious effort about a year or so ago to become more aware of ESD hazards in the lab, and since then I have not fried a single thing. None of this 'awareness' involved a grounding strap. I just pay attention to my likely potential with respect to a device I'm about to touch (am I heavily insulated from it, like by wearing thick shoes? have I done anything to pick up charge, like walking across carpet?), and make an effort to equalize my potential with the environment around the item before touching it.
If I carry an item to the workbench, I keep away from the item's conductors, and set it onto the ESD mat for safe discharge before grounding myself to a scope BNC or something.
If I carry an item away from the workbench, I make contact with its largest conductive/grounded bulk as I walk, so as to equalize charge with myself (next best thing to a slow discharge at destination, since the destination has no ESD mat this time). At the destination I discharge again while still holding it, so any ESD that does flow goes through me and then goes into the device's ground, which on anything with decent grounding is one of the least susceptible nodes. Probably helps as well that I'm almost never wearing shoes, so the isolation voltage between me and the area around me is relatively low
c4757p, if I haven't missed anything the procedure you are adopting seems ok for the most part. The main idea of ESD protective measures is to
prevent these charges from building up as most as possible, as well as protecting the things against human error. Think of it as simply a more straightforward way to protect the equipment: for example, packing a board in a protective bag in the dissipative mat takes your mind away from not touching exposed copper - that and the typical Murphy's hazards (tripping, "ulnar nerve" syndrome, etc.)
Holding a board or IC by its insulated surroundings can still be a hazard if your body builds up charge (by wearing certain cloth materials or scratching your head, for example). The board or IC will have an induced charge, which is fine until by happenstance they "interact violently" with their surroundings. Again, it is just a matter of taking your mind off any potential hazards.
Other common things also buildup charge in a board or IC's surroundings: certain plastics, paper, etc. all can induce charge on nearby neutral boards and ICs. Having grounded dissipative mat or carts (to haul away test gear, for example) is another way to take your mind away from all this.
All that said, even in my workplace the vast majority of boards are cheapies that use modern ICs that have good protection on their inputs (at least when compared to their NMOS grandparents of yore). These factors make such protective measures an almost complete red herring, but the problem is that Murphy will bite you when handling the "one of a kind" or "ultra-expensive" board or gear.