A few years ago, I found an app that is designed to help manage insomnia. I don’t have a bad case. But, I do have time of erratic sleep. So, I tried the free week and gave them $40 for a year’s subscription.

The way it functions is that you wear earbuds while a gentle voice tells you a story as you do a color-by-number picture with soft music in the background. We think there are binaural beats in the music to help your brain settle down.

Because you have 3 things going on (beats, coloring, getting a story) your monkey mind gets distracted enough to allow you to relax and sleep.

It was effective enough that, after a while, I fell asleep as soon as I turned it on.

Recently, I have been having a nap in the afternoon fairly frequently. I think the word puzzles I do at the end of my daily online habit are serving the same function. They distract my brain from my work frets just enough to encourage it to shut down and rest a bit.

Or perhaps I’ve just been tired enough that sleep happens.