Here’s what happened

hile I was jumping rope, my cellphone took a fall to the hardwood floor, causing multiple cracks to the screen. Feeling adventurous the next morning, I decided to prolong not going to the phone store for 24 hours. I felt an unfamiliar sense of calm that day, which led to not going for one week. One week ended up becoming 60 days without my smartphone.

I noticed three big things from this prolonged time without my smartphone. These benefits may have you considering a smartphone detox yourself.

My mind wandered

While in line at a Starbucks, I noticed that everyone had their heads down, hypnotized by their smartphones. With nothing to distract myself, I became bored and noticed my mind wandering through all sorts of topics.

Boredom is typically something we avoid at all costs. However, boredom is, oftentimes, the perfect way to elicit a breakthrough on a business idea or project.

When entering into a state of boredom, you’re allowing your mind to relax and escape from the realities of today to the infinite possibilities of tomorrow.

Transitioning to this new state allows you to enter a space where innovation and new ideas are fostered, which can then be brought down to ground zero.

Being detached from my smartphone, I noticed that the quality of my decisions was higher, which resulted in my getting a new idea for a project that is now under way.

I dramatically reduced my work hours

A 2015 study by Nottingham Trent University detailed in Plos One found that adults ages 18 to 33

checked their smartphones 85 times a day, or once every 10 minutes, with total daily smartphone usage totaling 5.05 hours. Also, 55 percent of all smartphone activity was less than 30 seconds in duration.

As I learned during my experiment, placing some distance between myself and my device helped me fall into deep (and more focused) work more easily. Checking your phone for 30 seconds seems innocent, but that is enough time to break up your flow.

By not having my smartphone, my distraction time went down and thus my hours of work were spent more efficiently and effectively. On numerous occasions, I found myself wondering what to do with the afternoon because I had already completed my high-impact tasks for the day.

With extra time, you can finally get back to those hobbies that unintentionally went to the back burner.

My mental well-being received a boost

Obviously, without a cellphone, I experienced an absence of negative news and comments. That helped cause a dramatic boost in my mental well-being and I also connected more with people.

In the digital age, especially for