Every night, Sowmya Srinath and her 10-year-old read a story together. Once she puts him to bed, she opens an app on her phone, picks a story she likes, sets a timer and lies back to relax. As the soothing voice begins narrating the story, the stress and strain of the workday disappear and she drifts off to sleep.
“It’s a habit I picked up during the lockdown. When work from home (WFH) started, I wasn’t able to stick to a particular bedtime and found it difficult to fall asleep later,” says Sowmya, who works for an IT company. “If I watch TV, my mind gets active, but when I listen to a story, I feel calm and within an hour I am yawning.”