In no particular order:

• being fit
• physically tired
• no booze or cannabis on nights I actually have to sleep well
• a completely dark room, no little lights on electronic devices, blackout curtains, etc…
• a bed (I won’t mention the brand unless asked) that adjusts to my sleep patterns. It measures my breath rate, heart rate, how often I move, if I’m snoring (rare), etc… It then knows how well I’m sleeping and can soften or firm up, and tilt my upper body up or down. Depending on how my vitals change it learns how best to accommodate my sleep.

If I have trouble due to stress or the neighbors are making noise I’ll throw on an eye mask and ear plugs.

I’m basically comatose 15 minutes after hitting the pillow and wake up before my alarm.

not moving

(advice for falling asleep if you are not tired coming from someone who worked rotating shifts for a decade) like this is not a joke but nothing helps me fall asleep faster than not moving as soon as i lie down.

“oh i can’t fall asleep, i rotate onto my other side” no!

“oh i know turning on my belly might help” no!

“oh i know…” just stop it.

stay put, try to calm your thoughts but do - not - move - any - limps - at - all! no little arm movement, no turning around and very soon that little tingly feel will start to appear letting you know that you’ll soon be fast asleep.

Ambien. I know that it’s not great but unfortunately it’s more complex for me than just sleep, so it’s necessary. I don’t think I’d ever sleep again without it. Wow can you do some weird things on Ambien if you don’t put your phone away.

4 hours of 30 second videos viewed on a screen held 4 inches away from my face, it never fails 👍

Absolute dark

Just need more hours in the day, maybe fourty more. Although; I’m not sure if I’d sleep a minute away

I do not do anything but sleep in my bedroom. My phone charger stays in the living room. When I feel tired, I lay down and basically turn off for four to five hours. I have no issues getting to sleep, but I can’t stay asleep for a “normal” 6-8 hours. My body won’t do it.

Honestly, sleeping isn’t a problem for me, its getting up.

Have you tried crying for 45/60 minutes? Works like a charm

Having a partner who loves me

got myself a sleep apnea mouth guard. It’s amazing to actually be able to sleep just 7 hours and actually be refreshed instead of even more tired than the evening before.

Monitored the change with an app that records your snoring. and it’s insane what a different it makes

• regular vigorous exercise - I do this five or six days per week
• no caffeine after about 2 pm
• mostly consistent bedtime
• heating pad, for nights when my lower back is stiff or sore
• white noise in the form of a fan (though I’m going to need something more powerful, as my neighbor has started the lovely habit of watching tv at 330am with no headphones)
• on nights when I’m really having trouble, I have a small stash of chewable 5mg melatonin tablets on my nightstand

A lot of this was already covered but here’s what I have:

• Lights/screens:
  • Switching to light sources/bulbs with lower brightness/warmer light temperature (lower Kelvin/K-value) 3 hours before bed. (Light affects our sleep-wake cycle, aka the circadian rhythm. Our brain processes bright light as “the sun is still up so it’s not time to sleep yet”)
  • Gradually dimming electronic screens until bedtime. (Computer: using a program like F.lux and lowering the brightness gradually in the graphics card’s control panel. Phone: with a built-in Night/Dark Mode option that you can schedule or by using an app like Twilight). // Don’t take your devices to the bedroom, or keep them far away from the bed and set them on silent/shut them off.
  • Use a face mask (or tie some other cloth around your eyes), or sleep in a dark room (closed door, covered windows, covered LED lights on electronics, etc.) (note: if you sleep in a closed room make sure to keep it well-ventilated in all other hours)
• Try not to sleep for more than 8 hours, so you’ll always be tired enough the next night.
• Masking noise:
  • Use something that makes a white noise - a loud fan/air purifier, a plugged-in radio that’s not tuned to a working station, a white noise device, etc. (put it next to a window if it’s noisy outside to mask the noise better)
  • Additionally (or alternatively) you can use foam earplugs. Just make sure to roll&squeeze them before putting them in and don’t push them too far, otherwise you might get impacted earwax and have difficulty getting them out.
• Food: Have a light meal 3-3.5 hours before bed and light snacks (like crackers) 1.5-2 hours before bed, to not go to sleep hungry and get distracted by that and to not put the body into overdrive by having to digest a heavy meal, or cause heartburn/indigestion.
• If you sleep on your stomach with your head to the side, you can use a thin and narrow side pillow (but firm) along your torso to support your shoulder on the side that your head is pointing to. (you can also use a thin pillow for your head to not strain your neck/spine - there are ones made for kids if needed)

Removing all distractions, which takes a bit of work. Covering every single source of light. Little indicator on my charger? Slapped electrical tape on it. Blackout curtains. Noise machine. The hardest one: Never using the bedroom for anything but sleeping. Not even a little peek at the phone and YouTube for a relaxing video. I have an analogue non-illuminated clock for daytime, and if I need to check the time in the dark, a Timex I can hit the glow button on. If I really can’t sleep, I get up and go into another room to read or listen to something.

Reading a book or listening to a podcast usually works. If not, I add a couple of CBD puffs.