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$45 for a window to-do list app? You must be kidding.

Nice advert though.

It's like PG says in his essay,"The Island Test":

"The notebook and pen are professional equipment, as it were. Though actually there is something druglike about them, in the sense that their main purpose is to make me feel better. I hardly ever go back and read stuff I write down in notebooks. It's just that if I can't write things down, worrying about remembering one idea gets in the way of having the next. Pen and paper wick ideas."

Although, I find that most of the time I toss-and-turn b/c my mind is continuously thinking about solving some problem at hand. It's 3am and I should go to bed, otherwise I'll be a zombie at the office tomorrow, but there is this problem that I have to stop thinking about first. Creativity doesn't really follow the same schedules as "business hours"; I would suggest that if you can, stay awake thinking/working/doing until you can't anymore.

I was a terribly good sleeper, up to some point a year and some months ago. Since I had travelled, I thought I had a jetlag. But the insomnia continued for months. Then I started to change things:

- Change my bed time from 24:00 to 23:00. Whenever I don't sleep immediately, my mind doesn't go into the 'yet another night' train. Instead it changes to 'there's still plenty time to sleep'. On the upside, when I sleep quickly, I get plenty of sleep compensation.

- Be regular. During the weekends I try to get to bed at most an hour later and get out of bed an hour later. I notice may body gets accustomed to that schedule. I get tired at the right time, and wake up at the right time.

- I stopped reading news sites (including Hacker News) after 21:00. They get me exited and put my mind into overdrive.

- I stopped using a computer or mobile phone after 22:00. Lots of research has shown that prolonged screen use reduces melatolin production.

- End the day with some simple activity that is only mildly interesting. E.g., if you are not too much into sports, watch some boring sports on television.

- Have some melatolin tablets at home, just in case you have some really bad nights. It's said that they do very little harm.

- Have a second place in your house to sleep (e.g. a couch) if you have a partner. You can avoid keeping him/her awake as well.

- Stop worrying about sleep. It's hard, but it helps.

Since I made these changes, I sleep well 95% of the time. The other 5% I still sleep enough ours to make it through the day.

With respect to the Scotch, as much as I like Scotch, I would avoid it. It helps some, but it can quickly turn into an addiction.

So the author's reasoning goes like this: you can't sleep because you think of stuff (1), and you think of stuff because you are afraid to forget it (1). I agree partly with (1). It is definitely one a major reason sleep stays away. (2) however is way to general. Waaaaaaaay. Maybe it's true for tha author, but putting it like it's the next big truth is a reason not to be taken seriously by any psychologist. Or by me and probably the major part of HN.

This article isn't about how we can't sleep, it's the author telling us why he can't sleep.