We all know what it's like to get that phone call in the middle of the night. That night's call was no different.

“Hello.” My heart beat hard.

“Mama,” The voice answered. My thoughts immediately went to my daughter.

“Mama, I've been drinking (酗酒). I nearly ran off the road a few miles back. All I could think of was if it would hurt (伤害) you if a policeman came to your door and said I'd been killed (死) . I want to come home. I know running away was wrong. I know you've been worried. I should have called you days ago but I was afraid.”

“My senses were clear now,” I think…

“No! Please let me finish!” She pleaded in desperation. Before I could go on, she continued. “Are you still there? Please don't hang up (挂断) on me! I need you.”

“I'm here, I wouldn't hang up,” I said.

“I know I should have told you. But, when we talk, you just keep telling me what I should do. You don't listen to me. You never let me tell you how I feel. Because you're my mother, you think you have all the answers. But sometimes I don't need answers. I just want someone to listen.”

“I'm listening,” I whispered.

“I called a taxi. I'm coming home, Mama.” There was a click, and the phone went silent.

Tears (眼泪) forming in my eyes, I walked into my 16-year-old daughter's room. I wiped the tears.

“We have to learn to listen,” I said to my husband.

He studied me for a second, and then asked, “Do you think she'll ever know she dialed (拨打) the wrong number?” I looked at our sleeping daughter, and then back at him. “Maybe it wasn't such a wrong number.”

When Joe’s children grew up and moved to different cities, he lived in a small village. He had 4 grandchildren and they often visited him during their holidays.

It was the vacation time and Joe was waiting for them to arrive. He was preparing their favorite food and cleaning the house. However, he lost his watch when he was busy. His dead wife gave it to him when their first child was born. Joe treasured the watch very much, especially after his wife’s death.

The next day, he was very sad, “Dear children, I lost the most important watch I have ever had. Your grandma gave it to me. I feel like my heart is broken.”

The children looked for it everywhere in the house for more than 2 hours, but they didn’t find it. So Joe asked the children to stop looking for it.

One of his grandsons sat there quietly. The other children reached him and asked him what was going on. He asked them not to make any noise. He sat there for about 15 minutes and then found the watch. He ran to his grandfather with the watch. Joe was surprised and asked how he was able to find it. The little boy replied, “I sat there without making a noise. After a few minutes, I heard the sound of the watch.” Joe hugged and thanked the little boy.

While I was jumping rope, my smartphone took a fall to the floor which created cracks (裂缝) on my screen. However, the music kept playing 30 minutes later, I could see only one tenth of my screen while the rest was black. The next morning, I decided not to use it for 24 hours. I felt a sense of calm that day, which led to my not using it for one week. One week ended up becoming 60 days in total without my smartphone.

Here are some advantages I noticed in this challenge.

—You’ll become “bored”

Without my phone, I became bored, but my mind went through all kinds of topics. Boredom（无聊) is a perfect way to create new ideas on a business or project. When you are bored, you allow your mind to relax to reach all possibilities.

—You’ll be able to reduce your “work” hours

A survey found that adults checked their smartphones 85 times a day, or once every 10 minutes. As I learned in my challenge, by not having my smartphone, I fell into deep work more easily, so I completed my tasks in a shorter time.

—You’ll improve your mental health

Without my phone, I avoided reading negative (负面的) news and comments. While that helped make a big improvement in my mental health, the biggest reason for it was truly communicating with people. It brought me more connections with humans in the real world. I went to more dinners with friends and asked more questions to strangers.