The best thing you can do is five hours before going to bed, making sure you get enough exercise and avoid caffeine.

Other than that, I have a routine of stretching and reading before bed, so usually just doing that puts me out.

Failing that, I used to have really bad insomnia, and one thing I would remind myself is that even just laying awake in bed is a kind of rest, and even if you don’t sleep you can kind of drift off into a reverie here and there.

Related, I find having something enjoyable to think about as I close my eyes is fun and distracting. For me that’s creative stuff like writing stories, designing games, or making game levels in my head.

1. Lifestyle change: exercise often so your body actually gets tired.
2. If it’s already late: go for a night walk.

The sleep with me podcast.

The way the host talks makes actually following along at low volume very difficult but it’s still engaging enough to keep my mind from wandering to racing sorts of places. It puts me out nearly every time I try it.

Shove my husband and tell him to stop snoring.

I pay attention to my feet and feel that they are asleep, then my calves, and so on until I feel like my whole body is asleep.

Count backwards from 100 in Spanish in my head, or think about slowly descending through the color wheel from a bright loud red then orange, down through yellow, to green, blue, sleepy deep purple.

Also - don’t get in bed until you are sleepy. Exercise during the day. Yin Yoga before bed.

Alphabet game.

Start withAa, think the first word beginning with A that comes to mind.

Go to B and stay on topic this time.

Keep going till you fall asleep.

"A… Albatross (so birds) B… Bluejay. C… Coocoo…"try to be specific but going general is ok too. If you can’t think of something on topic start the next topic from there and move on. Don’t dwell, don’t think too hard.

This almost always works. If not, I get up and go do something mindless until I get eepy.

I essentially think up Skyrim-related fanfic. I got enough hours in Skyrim that’s it takes little effort to think about the universe. It’s a neutral ish subject that is distinct from most real world problems so it usually does the job to distract my brain.

I’ve probably thought up enough fanfic to make a new elder scrolls main story line and a few side stories, or book or something, but alas no one probably cares to hear my stories.

For me, audio books. I have to constantly restart chapters but I’m usually out within 20 minutes.

Breathe deep, hold for five seconds, breathe out, hold for five seconds. Repeat until asleep.

I’ve slept on sidewalks, in ditches, in beds, and in snow banks. Focusing on your breathing works.

I used to struggle with this. What worked for me was waking at 5am and then being active all day.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/military-sleep-method

Putting on some quiet music also helps.

Caffeine the next day. Not trying to be funny or facetious. It’s actually what I do.

Educational videos. Lowest brightness and volume.

Bi-polar, so sleep disorder since I was a child. Extremely strict routine is how I manage it (along with pharma for mood regulation). Sleeping pills if I have to break routine.

Whatever time you fall asleep, don’t sleep in.

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