I have a sleep disorder. I can no longer nap, have alcohol (at all), caffeine after 9am, and so on.
I also love napping and have napped my entire life when possible until recently.
Since I can’t nap anymore without ruining my sleep I now sit or lay quietly with my eyes closed and just rest. I set an alarm for 5-10 minutes and snooze for a few minutes over and over until I “get up”. I never really fall asleep so (reluctantly) ending this rest period is not that hard.
This doesn’t give you that same rested feeling but I can destress, lower anxiety, and so on. This absolutely has led to me sleeping more deeply at night, getting drowsy before bed, etc.
A little like meditation but mostly just taking a break.
For a long time I ssh’d into my vps to manage tasks and notes in emacs and even play dwarf fortress.
With utilities like screen you can rejoin sessions anywhere, etc.
Have you tried this?
Never tried to get a GUI running like this.