This Learning App Has Become A Part of People’s Pre-Bed Routine

Blinkist is an app that was designed to help busy people learn. It gathers the key ideas from nonfiction books and explains them in 15-minute reads and listens. There are 4,000 titles to choose from across 27 categories.

“As a productivity coach and one of the life long learners, I can’t tell you how happy I was to find Blinkist. If you enjoy nonfiction reading and are short on time, Blinkist will be your new favorite app.” – Karen Trepte, Huffington Post

Millions of users worldwide have downloaded the app to fit learning into their day and pick up new skills fast. Plus they’ve discovered another surprising use: it helps them fall asleep at night.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, it takes people on average 10 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. Blinkist’s bitesize content fits exactly into this timeframe. So, although the app wasn’t designed with this in mind, the short-form content and sleep-friendly features make it a popular pre-bed choice.

“As a wife, a mom of three, and a full-time entrepreneur, I yearn for some time to read for both personal and professional reasons. Blinkist is my car companion and pre-sleep friend! I love it.” – Oula Farawati, Co-founder & CEO Printati

The app was founded in 2012 by four friends who wanted to fit more learning into their lives but didn’t have the time. After sharing notes from nonfiction books and realizing they could get the key information quickly, they designed an app that helps others access knowledge fast, too.

From left: The Blinkist founders: Niklas Jansen, Tobi Balling and Holger Seim. (Not pictured: Sebastian Klein)

Eight years on, the app has 15 million users and has won awards from the likes of Google and the UN. Apple even named it one of the top 20 apps for lifelong learning alongside Coursera, Khan Academy and TED.

“When we started most apps were for social media or gaming. We wanted to do something different and build an app that would add genuine value to someone’s life”. – Holger Seim, CEO of Blinkist

The app helps its millions of users learn new things quickly, from professional skills like entrepreneurship, productivity and leadership, to topics for their personal lives like personal development, psychology and relationships.

With Blinkist’s 15-minute reads and listens, they can fit learning into pockets of time throughout their day, like on their commute, in between meetings, or when cooking and working out.

So, even though the founders never envisioned Blinkist as a sleep app, many people include it as part of their wind-down ritual. Here’s why.

1. A Book Explained in 15 Minutes

The app gathers key points from top nonfiction titles and explains them in 15 minutes. This means that users can start a new title each evening and easily finish it before falling asleep.

What’s more, the app simplifies big ideas and makes them easy to understand, so content is straightforward and enjoyable for users winding down at the end of the day.

@blinkist is my now favorite thing to read. Such an amazing way to consume information. Reading books I’m interested in but too far down the list to get to any time soon, are now super easy to consume. Thank you!!

— Benjamin Montrose (@rebelliousBen) April 28, 2020

2. You Can Listen and Wind Down

Everyone knows they should avoid looking at screens before bed. With Blinkist’s audio feature, users can listen to the content and remain screen-free while winding down.

This also means they can multitask while listening, so they can be getting ready for bed, cleaning the kitchen or stretching. Alternatively, some users like to press play as they’re getting into bed and listen while unwinding and falling asleep.

To make the audio experience as enjoyable as possible, the app uses different narrators and sound effects. There’s also a sleep timer feature which stops the app playing at the end of the explainer or after a set amount of time, so there’s no need to worry about pausing, users can leave the app playing as they fall asleep.

Choose exactly when Blinkist stops playing with the sleep timer feature

Blinkist’s audio has even won an award. It won the Better Sound 2020 award for its unique audio DNA, which focuses on being uplifting and inspiring. It’s also constantly getting better with new developments.

The app’s audio content is written with listeners in mind, and narrators read each piece of content with energy to make them much more engaging than audiobooks. This is what makes them so easy to binge.

I’ve just finished reading/listening to my 5th book in 3hours on @blinkist ! Amazing App!!! Can’t wait to read more!👌🏼😘❤️🥰💯💃🏻

— 👑BellaChy🍯 (@thebellachy) September 23, 2019

3. There’s Content Made for Relaxing

Blinkist’s content is designed for learning, so it easily captures people’s attention, but there are plenty of relaxing titles to explore. There are titles across 27 categories, so it doesn’t matter what mood users are in, they’ll be sure to find something that suits what they’re looking for.

They can explore topics like mindfulness, happiness, philosophy, memoir, history  and titles such as Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Ryan Holiday’s Stillness is the Key, and Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. There are even titles on sleep like The Secret Life of Sleep, Sleep Smarter, and Why We Sleep.

“I use Blinkist before bed to help me unwind. I usually go to bed a little earlier to listen to a new title and relax. After 30 minutes or so, I’m fast asleep” — Julia, Team Lead, Senior Account Manager at Outbrain

4. A World of Knowledge to Discover Every Evening

Those that use Blinkist as part of their evening routine need new content every day. Luckily, there’s always something new to listen to on the app with 4,000 titles and 40 new titles added each month.

To decide which titles to check out, users can turn to Blinkist’s tailored recommendations where the app learns what users enjoy and suggests related titles.

There are also curated lists which round up titles around specific topics, like stoicism or space, and recommendations from thought leaders like Bill Gates, Arianna Huffington and the app’s own founders. There are also lists with sleep-suitable titles like Soothing Blinks for Stressful Times, Wind Down with Blinkist, and From Stressful to Restful.

5. It’s Backed by Science

Blinkist’s content is designed to be as engaging and easy to consume as possible. The content is made using neuroscientific techniques like real life examples and case studies. These make it relatable and interesting, so users focus on the content and unwind.

They also make the content easy to remember, so even though people are listening while winding down, information will stick with them the next day.

This means they can listen to titles on skills they want to learn, topics they want to be more knowledgeable about, or book recommendations they’ve been given as part of their evening routine but they should still remember the key points when they wake up.

“I read a lot of management, self-improvement, and entrepreneurial books through Blinkist because I can gain specific knowledge on my industry or on ways to improve myself.” – Steven Renwick, CPO of Regis24

Blinkist’s sleep-friendly features make it a go-to choice for many people’s evening routines. If you’d like to fit more learning into your day, perhaps while winding down, download the app to find out for yourself.