I have a lot of trouble sleeping at night, it's been like this my entire life, but in the last 12 months it's been especially pronounced at times. In the last couple years I've really started trying to pintpoint at least partial solutions and I want to share what I've found helps me:
1. Determine your baseline
I need 6 hours of sleep minimum, a minute less than that and I'm completely off until I take a nap, more than that is nice, but I don't necessarily require it.
I think establishing this baseline for what amount of sleep you need is important, because it helps you know when you're gonna be reaching your limit and when you have some leeway. Once I realized that I needed to get a minimum of 6 hours to be functional I stopped getting worried about getting less than 8 as much, and was able to relax a bit more and wait for myself to get tired.
If you're trying to force yourself to go to sleep at 10:00 so you can get up at 6, but you can go to sleep at 11 and be just as functional on 7 hours try that and you might have an easier time falling asleep after giving yourself the extra hour to tire out.
2. Red lights
I use a color changing LED bulb in my bedroom and set it to red with a low brightness in the evenings.
We're always told to turn on our phone's blue light filter in the evenings because blue light tells our brains it's day, but our light bulbs produce plenty of blue light too. I find that sitting in my bedroom for about 30 minutes with the lights all set to red, even if I'm on my phone for part of it, makes it a lot easier to fall asleep quickly at night.
3. No melatonin or benadryl
You don't need them and they're likely making it harder for you to sleep at night.
Benadryl puts you to sleep but does not make you feel well rested when you wake up, I used it for years when I was a teenager and that was some of the worst sleep I've gotten in my life. In addition, if you take benadryl and fail to fall asleep during the initial sedative state, it can keep you awake for hours longer than you mean to be, this is commonly documented by those taking benadryl for the deleriant effects.
Melatonin makes you feel well rested, but I've always found it can make it extremely difficult to fall asleep if you take too much. If you feel you need melatonin to be better rested, I suggest at the very least you should take a much smaller dose than what is common in stores. I find that generally 0.5 mg is the maximum I need, but I'd suggest that if you're going to take it the average dose should be closer to 0.25 mg for optimal effects.
4. One pillow
Just use a single pillow to support your neck while you sleep, I find this helps me breathe at night better and I feel significantly better rested and have less neck pain in the mornings when I use a single pillow. My understanding for the reason this works is that when you use multiple pillows the bend created in your neck partially restricts airflow while you sleep. I've only been using a single pillow at night for a few months, but I've felt more well rested after starting and my neck hurts less in the morning.
5. Take naps when you can
I'm not shy to taking naps, I take one after work most days to help make up for the lack of sleep in the night. The option to take a nap makes it a lot less scary to be up late at night, and if your obligations will allow you to have that time back then it gives you an easy way out of a poor night's rest. I do sometimes get worried that taking a nap will interfere with my ability to do chores or get something done in the day, but often times you can mitigate that by getting it done while you're having trouble sleeping the night before.
6. Cold, but warm
It is my firm belief that humans are meant to be warmed from the cold when we go to sleep. When I try and sleep I want it to be cold enough that I'd be unable to sleep well without a blanket, so that the blanket keeps me warm. I think the increase in coziness from being warmed against the cold puts one at rest much easier than trying to sleep in an already warmer room with a thinner blanket.
7. Voices
I can't easily fall asleep at night without noise, I find that white noise helps, but what I prefer more is people talking quietly. I think that having a podcast or a show turned on to where you can't make out the words (so you don't follow along) but you can hear the talking is immensely helpful for falling asleep.
If you're having trouble sleeping too then I would also suggest you look at more conventional wisdom for your sleep aids. Things like avoiding caffeine, turning your phone off, and laying down with your eyes closed can be very helpful for helping you fall asleep, but I wanted to give you the things that personally have made a significant impact on me and I haven't seen repeated in a lot of places.
If you have any experience with trouble sleeping or any additional suggestions you'd like to share please leave them in the comments, I'd love to see them.
Thanks for reading!
- Dylan