A good night’s sleep is incredibly important for our physiological well-being. Not getting enough sleep is associated with many negative short-term and long-term outcomes. On the short-term side, you may experience difficulty concentrating, mood swings, feel less creative, and have a harder time making decisions. On the long-term side, chronic sleep deprivation is associated with a weaker immune system, weight gain, and a higher risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Those who don’t sleep well are also at a higher risk for depression (my belief is that inadequate rest hinders fulfillment of all six of the needs, thus the link to depression).

I have long prioritized rest, but my particular problem has always been that I frequently wake up once in the middle of the night (last night it was to the sound of my dog vomiting—joy), and then I’m wide awake. My mind starts racing, and that’s basically the end of the story. This is how I wrote most of my book, in the wee hours when I was desperately hoping sleep would reclaim me. My answer to my midnight insomnia has been to try to roll with it. If my mind is awake, go do something productive. If I hit a wall and need a rest, go take a nap. Luckily I’ve long had the flexibility of schedule to allow me this approach. However, it’s not always convenient to need to find a place to rest in the middle of the day. I’d rather just get a full night’s rest.

It was while looking for tricks to help my daughter sleep that a friend recommended the audiobook The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep. This book changed my life. I had about a 50% success rate using it to help my daughter fall asleep, but a 100% success rate for myself. She can recite the first several lines by heart. I could maybe tell you the first three words because I’m never awake to hear any more of it. It’s like magic.

Having discovered the joy of stories to help me fall asleep, I went in search of more like The Rabbit. I discovered the Slumber app. It’s $60/year for a membership, and the best $60 I’ve ever spent. The art work on the app is so beautiful that my daughter has cried when the category art she liked so much did not represent a story she could play. You’ll notice they use dark styles for the art. When you’re grabbing your phone bleary-eyed in the middle of the night, the illustrations are not so bright they’ll wake you up further.

Here’s what I love about the app:

• It’s not just stories. If you’re in the mood for music or ASMR sounds, they’ve got you covered.

• The stories are on a variety of topics. Some are more meditative and have you imagining a walk in a picturesque locale. Some are whimsical. Some are mind-numbingly boring. Whatever your preference, I’m sure they’ve got you covered.

• A number of narrators contribute to the app, which means if you find one’s voice or style grating, you can easily switch to another.

• The readings have background noises that are completely customizable. I typically love the background noise of water or nature sounds. The added layer is usually calming for me. Yet on some days, I find certain noises to be a little irritating rather than soothing. By default the background noise stays on for some time after the story finishes (30 minutes). This can be changed.

• You can also set tracks to loop if you find yourself waking up when a story ends.

These days if I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind starts racing, I turn on the Slumber app. It gives my mind something innocuous to lock on that doesn’t have me dialing up my anxiety (which is a large part of the reason I struggle to fall asleep) (safety). Usually I’ve fallen asleep again within minutes.

Do you struggle with sleep? What tricks do you use?