Hi, it's TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hu. Smartphones, they've taken over our lives, and probably more so now than ever. They've been our link to one another as we've stayed home this year. But as podcaster and entrepreneur, Manusse Omarodi, reminds us, we should bravely put the phones away sometimes.

Our brains should be bored and space out. Today's archive talk from TED 2017, featuring voices

from listeners like you, is going to help you recharge your productivity and creativity, all by doing

less. And if you enjoy the talk, you can also hear my friend Manusch hosting the TED Radio Hour

with NPR. Find that show wherever you get your podcasts.

My son and the iPhone were born three weeks apart in June 2007.

So while those early adopters were lined up outside waiting to get their hands on this

amazing new gadget, I was stuck at home with my hands full of something else that was sending

out constant notifications.

A miserable, colicky baby who would only sleep in a moving stroller with complete silence.

I literally was walking 10 to 15 miles a day, and the baby weight came off. That part was great.

But man, was I bored? Before motherhood, I had been a journalist who rushed off when the Concord crashed.

I was one of the first people into Belgrade when there was a revolution in Serbia.

Now I was exhausted.

This walking went on for weeks.

It was only until about three months in,

that something shifted, though.

As I pounded the pavement,

my mind started to wander too.

And I began imagining what I would do when I finally did sleep again.

So the colic did fade,

and I finally got an iPhone,

...