Take a Tylenol PM or Advil PM
Maybe a Benadryl
1. Practice good "sleep hygiene". Get yourself ready for sleep by relaxing a few hours before bedtime -- take a warm bath,or write in a journal or diary. You can also put a few droplets of lavender oil on your pillow. Drink a glass of warm milk, with a teaspoon of honey stirred through if you'd like. Do this just before bed but be sure to brush your teeth before bed-- the sugar in milk and honey can cause tooth decay, especially if your mouth dries out at night. Try a two-week regimen to get your body into this habit. Make notes if you discover patterns of sleep or going to bed that work. For some people, sleep can be highly ritualistic...cultivate the rituals that produce your best sleep experiences. If you don't like the taste of plain warm milk, try it by making hot chocolate with warm milk instead of water. However, if you drink hot chocolate, make sure it's caffeine-free.
2. Make sure you have a comfortable bed in which you can get a good night's sleep. Buy a decent mattress. A mattress is worth more than you think, considering you use it every night, so don't hold back! If you're too hot or cold, add or remove blankets until comfortable. Adjust the temperature so it is cooler than usual, but not too cold. Make sure to stock up on blankets if you do this. If you have time, consider cleaning your room before trying to get to bed. Having a clean room can be calming when trying to fall asleep. A messy room will distract most people, and it can make you feel uncomfortable.
3. Soundproof your room. If you have noisy neighbors, consider buying a white noise machine, or leaving the fan on in the bathroom to drown out the irregular beats of their music, televisions, late night arguments, etc. If that doesn't work, don't underestimate the power of earplugs... Just make sure you can still hear your alarm! Calming music, such as soft classical music can also help drown out noise and help you fall asleep.
4. Read. Reading will help the mind focus on only one thing, instead of racing about the day's activities. Read something calming rather than an exciting thriller novel. Fairy tales or nonfiction would be good choices.
5. Adjust the lights to a level you are comfortable with. For optimal results, a pitch black room with no lights helps you sleep better through the night. If you have an alarm clock that is lighting up half the room as you try to sleep, turn it around or cover it with a towel. Most cell phones have an alarm on them, so you can use that instead of a bright, bulky alarm clock. If you must have mild illumination in your bedroom (e.g. glowing face of digital clock, night light), remember that red wavelengths of light generally are not as disruptive to sleep cycles as blue or green wavelengths. If you need to sleep during the day, use eye covers.
6. Get into a comfortable position, loosen any tight restrictive clothing. Position yourself comfortably on your back in bed, with your arms by your side. If you are uncomfortable with any way your body feels on the bed, correct it immediately, e.g., your body's weight on your arm is too strong, or your hip feels awkward--change position quickly until you're completely comfortable. Optimally, sleep nude. This might bother some people or make them feel uncomfortable, in which case, wear comfortable clothes like pajamas or a nightgown rather than tight or constricting "day clothes." Even if you wore comfortable clothes during the day it feels better to get in some nice clean ones prior to going to bed.
7. Practice deep breathing. If you're having trouble trying to sleep, try a deep breathing exercise. For example, lie on your back in bed and breathe in deeply for three counts, watching your stomach rise, and then breathe out for three counts. Do this for about ten minutes and then switch so you're lying on your right, and repeat the breathing process. Another way to go about doing it is this:
* Take a deep breath using one nostril closed,
* Now exhale with the nostril that is closed, during this exhalation, close the other.
* Repeat these steps using the other nostril. Do this 60 times (at least 15 minutes) and you will feel very relaxed.
8. Imagine yourself sinking into the mattress, Starting from the very tips of your toes. In your mind, begin to "acknowledge" everything around you that all your senses are experiencing. For example: Say to yourself (not out loud), "I hear the clock ticking. I smell the lotion I just applied to my hands. I feel my legs' weight on the bed. I hear my spouse/partner breathing. I see different shades of black. I hear the dog barking in the distance. I hear myself in my own mind talking.", etc. This should help to clear your mind by slowly acknowledging everything and subsequently dismissing it. Stay on your back, sunk into the mattress until you feel it is time to roll into your desired position.
9. Pray or meditate. Whatever is on your mind is probably there for a reason. When you pray, do it the way you are supposed to. Dismiss whatever it is racing through your mind, and forget about the situation. If meditating, visualize yourself addressing your thoughts and resolving them. Or, meditate on a calming word or phrase. As you do so, it helps you to lower your heart rate and relax your muscles, making it easier for you to lay down and fall asleep. Many times this will work because you no longer have that burden on your mind and you can relax enough to fall asleep.
10. Give your brain an exercise. Count as high as you can. Get a picture of as many sheep on a field as possible. Try counting all of the sheep in a dim light. This makes your mind focus on one easy thing. Also, try doing mathematical calculations in your mind, for example, think of two or three digit numbers and add them up in your mind. Try counting backwards by threes or fours: 100, 97, 94... You may find your asleep before you get to 0. If you're still awake try a bigger number and count slower.
11. Think of something very calming. Picture a waterfall. It is very calming and you will fall asleep quickly. This makes you calm. This also gets your mind away from distractions of life. You may also have a good dream. Pretend that you are floating on a river. Look up and see the blue sky and feel the water below you. Picture your ideal fantasy and try to play it out in your head. Also, try imagine that you are in a perfect room. What would it look like? What color is it? What's in it? Imagine yourself lying in it. Why is it so relaxing to you? Imagining yourself in this perfect room focuses your mind on relaxation.
12. Start the habit of using your bed only for sleeping. Do not read, play video games, etc. because then your body will be used to doing those things while in bed and make you more awake.
13. Sing a song in your head. Pick a song that you know very well and sing all of the lyrics in your head. If that doesn't work, act like you are typing the lyrics on an imaginary keyboard. Or, if you know sign language, you can sign all of the lyrics. Pick a song that you know every word to and you are familiar with. You can also plan to listen to music while you sleep. Listen to the softer songs of your favorite band. If you have trouble blocking out sounds around you (especially in an apartment building) then wear a set of earbud headphones to bed with some language tapes running. Listening to the language tapes provides you with a soothing voice that is talking in a very mellow tone and has the bonus of reinforcing your knowledge of the language while you sleep.
14. Think about a story in your head. Make it light and happy like a fairy tale; you can make it up. (Suggested) and what really helps is to picture the story in your mind. This may or may not help but do try it if you are having trouble falling to sleep.
15. Consider over-the-counter drugs.
* Try taking an over-the-counter drug called melatonin that can help. Melatonin may help you fall asleep if you take it at the same time each day before you go to sleep. As we age, melatonin levels decrease so melatonin may be more helpful for age-related insomnia. Some people may find taking melatonin in a "staged" manner helpful: take half a melatonin tablet before going to bed, and the remaining half if you awaken in the middle of the night. (NOTE: Melatonin is a hormone and has a larger role than sleep initiation. A reduction in melatonin levels causes the body to initiate puberty, if melatonin levels stay high, puberty will be delayed. It is not for use by children, teenagers, or pregnant or lactating women. If you have any disorder at all or are on medication consult a physician before taking melatonin.)
* Consider Valerian, an over the counter herbal supplement. Valerian has mild sedative effects and is generally safe for most people and appears not to cause grogginess upon awakening. However, some herbal literature indicates that if used for a period longer than about a week, the herb can have the opposite effects. Other herbal sleep/ relaxant aids to consider are: Lemon Balm, Chamomile, and Hops. Talk with someone who has experience with these herbs or do some research.
* Unisom is highly effective (and non-addictive), just make sure you have a full eight hours to sleep. Unisom and Sominex have the same active ingredient as Benadryl, but Benadryl (an antihistamine)is cheaper (especially generic). While Benadryl isn't addictive, it can slow you down the next morning by making you feel groggy-headed. Look for natural sleep aids sold in health-food stores before trying Unisom.
* Many people find tryptophan (available in health food stores) to be a safe and reasonably effective sleep aid, probably due to its ability to increase brain levels of serotonin and/or melatonin
* Start relaxing and stop thinking about falling asleep..Relax your mind and think about what you want to do tomorrow. Do not think about falling asleep, this will stop you from doing so. Try chilling your pillow for two minutes in the fridge. Even on a cold day, it will relax your head and the rest of the body will follow.
16. Have a three hour famine If you want to sleep easily and soundly, the time for dinner is 3 hours before bedtime.
17. Practice solitaire. The card game solitaire was designed to send you to sleep. Undemanding, repetitive, requiring concentration but little mental effort, it will soon lull you into a numbed state. If you can resist the urge to believe your next hand will be the complete one, you will find this pastime both relaxing and tiring.
18. Train your bed. You can train yourself to associate your bed with restfulness rather than wakefulness by the practice you adopt. Sleep-inducing bed permit only two activities:sleeping and napping. All other activities -jumping, talking, school work etc - should be banished from the duvet, preferably from another room.
19. Think of impossible things Think of the most strange impossible things as fast as you can and don't stop. For example, imagine purple Twinkies™ walking on the walls then they grow red wings with yellow fishhooks dangling from them.. etc. Just think of the most weird strange thing you can and let the thoughts keep getting more and more strange and make less and less sense. You are guaranteed to fall asleep fast. This works, try it.
20. Explore a place in your mind. Get into a comfortable position, relax your eyes, and breathe. Then begin exploring and walking in a familiar and calming place in your mind and pay attention to every small detail. Be sure to block out any other thoughts. Focus only on walking. If something pops up in your head, ignore it. Eventually you will drift off into sleep.
21. Make up an imaginary friend and discuss your days events with them. talk about your feelings etc. Think of what your imaginary friend can say back. It's calming and very good for troubled minds.
22. Think of your best dreams that could happen Imagine yourself in the wildest places. Imagine yourself playing in the Super Bowl. You could think of yourself as a star figure skater dancing in front of thousands of people. A good method is to imagine yourself and your spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, lover walking, perhaps, maybe walking on a prairie peacefully.
23. Play an instrument before sleeping. If you have one, of course. This soothes you, calms your mind and forces you to focus and concentrate on a task. But try to play classical music or slow music, because rock wont really help.
24. Make up a story Every night, in your mind, think up parts of a story or a 'movie'. Eventually, you'll get bored and will fall asleep. Continue your 'story' the next day and keep going on like this.
25. Avoid clocks Turn all your clocks away from you and make sure that they don't tick when everything is quiet. This constant reminder that time is passing and you are still awake raises your stress level and makes it harder to sleep.
26. Get up and move If you haven't gotten to sleep for the past 15 minutes then get up, read a book, write in a journal, or listen to soft music. Anything that is relaxing! Because the truth is, if you can't fall asleep for a long period of time, laying there isn't going to do anything. Getting up to do something peaceful will calm you down so you are more likely to feel relaxed when you get back in bed.
27. Create a calm area It's much easier to get to sleep if it's quiet and dark. Close all the blinds tightly and wear earplugs if needed. A peaceful environment helps you have a peaceful sleep.
28. Tell yourself you're tired this may not work for some people but for others it is very effective. convince yourself that you are really tired and your brain will follow these signals and actually make you tired.
29. Compile a playlist if you have an Ipod, compile a playlist of relaxing and soothing songs. try not to include songs that will make you want to singalong. turn the volume down as low as possible but make sure the music is still audible.
30. Focus on the toes Get into a comfortable position, closing your eyes, and relaxing your jaw, tongue, and face. Then, starting with your toes... Focus on your toes and focus on relaxing them. Then move to your ankles. Then calves, knees, and on up. If your mind wanders, always get back to relaxing inch by inch. The focus clears other thoughts from your mind as well as relaxes your body enough to sleep.
31. Try ambient music. Ambient music is supposed to give natural background noise, and with a little searching, you will likely find one thing that works. Another option is spacemusic, a type of ambient music that brings up images and feelings of floating. It's much rarer, however, so you'll probably need to search around for it.
32. Insomnia If everyday you take like 3 hours or so to fall asleep then it looks like your suffering from insomnia. What you can do is take strict bed times: go to bed at the same night every night and wake up at the same time even on weekends. When you dont fall asleep in half an hour get up and do a low active activity like reading then in half in hour go back to bed. If the problem still persists then keep repeating.There are also tricks like turning the alarm clock so you cant see it or keeping the room cool and dark. Insomnia can be caused by many things like stress, work problems, drugs, etc. Go to insomnia sites for more information. good luck. :)
33. IF NONE OF those HELP then just calm your mind let your mind and body fall in too a dark place.Then just sit there and relax so your mind is calm as with your body.Also wear NON-tight clothes
[edit] Tips
* Try looking upward gently while your eyes are closed (like trying to look at your forehead with your eyes closed.) This makes your mind think that you are sleeping- making you fall asleep faster.
* Try to visualize in great detail your crush. His/her smile, clothing, them talking to you, anything.
* If you are constantly telling yourself you need to go to bed, you will get no where.
* If your mind races with thoughts, keep a notebook or journal by the bed and write them down so you can rest your mind and not worry about forgetting that thought.
* If you are very active your body may be restless at night. Massage your leg and arm muscles.
* Try sleeping with a pet (most of the time this will not work because pets tend to move around a lot and they may want out of your room in the middle of the night) but also can be very calming knowing that there is someone there with you.
* Find something that makes a very quiet, steady sound. A small fan on low setting or a real, non-electric, ticking watch. For some the sound will induce stress and make sleep harder, but for some, the steady beat of the ticking (because a watch has many smaller ticks inside of the tick-tock-tick-tock), or the quiet hum that the electric motor in the fan makes can be very peaceful. However if you live in an extremely quiet place, don't even bother. When it is quiet enough, you can hear a very deep, close, and seemingly loud humming in your ears. It is the sound of blood moving in your ears, and while the outside world must be just about silent before you can hear it, don't hesitate to take advantage of this opportunity when you get it.
* As much as you can, try to stay in bed with your eyes closed, even if you are not actually sleeping. You will drift in-and-out of sleep even if you do not realize it. As a result, you will be more relaxed in the long run.
* If you find you are still wide-awake after a half-hour or so, try getting out of bed and doing something relaxing in another room. Just sitting in a comfortable chair with the lights off, or looking out the window for a few minutes, can help you relax and make it easier to fall asleep.
* Relax by imagining a wave of comfort start from your feet and slowly work this 'wave' up your body. The process should take about 10 minutes.
* Eat a banana or two before bed. The magnesium in the banana will help your muscles to relax (Although keep in mind bananas also contain potassium which energizes the body). Other foods that will help you fall asleep are: Cheese (but this may give you vivid dreams, you do not get nightmares from eating cheese before bed), Mustard, Pickles, Lettuce, Turkey. They have natural chemicals that work with your brain to send a 'calm' message over your body.
* Some people believe that eating protein-enriched foods as a snack will help slow the mind so it can focus on sleeping. So a small pack of nuts or trail mix would be helpful.
* Exercise during the late afternoon. Go for a jog or to the gym. The aftereffects of the chemicals in your body released during the workout will get you through the evening. It's much easier to fall asleep if you've done something active since it's much easier to go to sleep when you're exhausted or tired than just sitting at home with all your energy from food you ate.
* Sometimes, it's easier to go to sleep with some lights on if you wear a sleeping mask.
* Tense all your leg muscles. Inhale slowly. Relax and exhale slowly. Repeat about seven times.
* Do not watch T.V. to help you go to sleep. The lights and the noise can make you stay awake for an hour or more.
* Do not exercise before going to bed. This will get your adrenaline going, your heart pumping, and speed up your respiratory system. Those things will make it very hard to fall asleep.
* The most important part of your body that should be relaxed (and the one that almost everyone overlooks) is your tongue. When you notice it, you'll find that it is invariably plastered against the roof of your mouth or up against your front teeth. Make a conscious effort to relax your tongue, jaw, and face along with the rest of your body. You'll be surprised how quickly you fall asleep!
* Sleep is just a lowered state of consciousness. Get to that state faster by not thinking. The easiest way to do this is to focus on the color black you "see" when you close your eyes. Deflect any other thought that arrives, as it will hinder your ability to focus on black. It is a difficult task initially, but if you can stick to it, you'll be asleep within 2-3 minutes.
* Be sure you have closed your eyes. Research has proven that if you don't close your eyes, it would be more difficult for you to fall asleep.
* Cover up the display or turn around an alarm clock, so you lose the perception of time. If you can't sleep and you see the hours going by, it can stress you out by thinking that you have to sleep ASAP. Overall, just try not to think of immediately going to sleep. This causes nervousness and queasiness, making it even harder to fall asleep. Remember, think of something calm instead of worrying about the time going by.
* Try a number of things until you figure out what works.
* Ask a family member to give you a back massage or run their fingers through your hair. It will relax you very much and help you fall asleep.
* Consider getting a new mattress if your current one is old.
* Count mentally or gently stare at mundane objects.
* Think of something that is amusing but not too exciting.
* For example if you could only live in your living room how would you split up the place, make the colors of the wall or a dream wardrobe of things you've always wanted to own etc. This will work your mind a little making it tired wanting to rest and go to sleep. It works every time trust me!
* Even though it may be hard, try to simply empty your mind. Stop worrying about the stressfulness of the day and just relax.
* Try making up a story including all of your favorite things. You are in your favorite place wearing your favorite color and it is your favorite time of the year. Your favorite song is playing in the background as you are doing your favorite activity with your favorite animal. It may sound silly, but your mind starts wandering off and pretty soon you just stop wandering and fall asleep.
* Try to sleep on clean sheets, pillows, blankets, etc. This may help you knowing you're in a nice clean, good smelling bed.
* If you suffer from anxiety or anything that will make it difficult to fall asleep here is a list of tips that will help calm yourself down.
o What is the worst that will happen if you don't fall asleep? The only thing is that you will be tired. You won't die.
o Here is a breathing exercise that is famous for helping people fall asleep. Inhale for five seconds (count the seconds in your head, it will distract you from the troubles of the day.) Then exhale letting your voice exhale too. Order: Breath in five seconds, exhale letting you voice go. It will calm you down.
o Don't hide ANY problems from your parents((this one is for teenagers))
o If your sleep problems continue, you should contact a therapist.
o Read! Just don't read Stephen King.
o If you ever get hungry, try not to eat (like it says, eat 3 hours before bed time) but if you need to eat something, have something small, healthy, and mushy. No hard crunchy stuff. Have a banana or half of an oatmeal packet. Plus, like it says above, sleep in a clean room with fresh sheets.
o Read this entire page again. You'll either fall asleep reading it or find another great way to fall asleep that you missed the first time.
* Reason with yourself. Say things like, "Well, I could still fall asleep at 3 AM and wake up at 6 AM and get through the day, because I've done it before. I could sleep in the bus for an hour on the way to school and I could wake up at 6:30 instead of 6 so I could technically fall asleep at 4:30". Even if you are telling yourself complete lies, it is always calming to know that your day will still go fine even if you fall asleep very late. It also unexpectedly might help you actually form a plan to get through the worst case scenario in that situation.
* Focus On Breathing. Imagine yourself taking in all of the air around you and inhaling it. Then have all the air go all through your body. Then imagine all that air you took in slowly exiting your body like the air coming out of a balloon through a tiny hole.
* Make a story. Try to make-up a story; it could be about anything, just use your imagination. Make it a spin-off of one of your favorite books. If you like a book or movie that doesn't have a sequel, make that sequel up. Make it in a dream format so you are the main character
* Play a simple game. There is a mind game called 'Return'. You think of one word and the first thing that comes to your mind from that word is your new word. Confusing explanation, but here's an example: 'Dog' reminds you of 'cat', 'cat' reminds you of 'fur', 'fur' reminds you of 'bear', ect. This game settles your mind and calms you down.
* Think positive. If you can't go to sleep due to some conflict in your life or your just stressed out about something, take your mind off of it. Think about your favorite sport or maybe a date with your dream girl/boy.
* Meditating or listening to a guided visualization track, such as Speed Sleep can also help you clear your mind.
* Practice breathing from your stomach, instead of your chest. Count your breaths from 1 to 10, then starting over again at 1. This will help you drift into a steady slumber. (You may also fall in and out of sleep while practicing this without even knowing it. Which, in the long run, will help you be more attentive and refreshed when you wake up for work/school.)
[edit] Warnings
* If you have any questions or concerns, contact a physician or other health care professional before engaging in any activity related to health and diet. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.
* If you are reading this, it is very likely it is late at night and you can't fall asleep. After you read this, go immediately to sleep, or if you absolutely cannot fall asleep, (if possible) turn the brightness of your computer down. Most laptops have this setting.
* Making your bed every morning will aid in not having to fight with your blanket every night.
* Don't force sleep. Don't think "must sleep, or I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow". While that may be true, worrying about it is not going to make you sleep. Concentrate on something else.
* Don't strain your eyes by trying to read or count in light that is too dim. It has been proven that this cannot actually cause permanent damage to ones eyes, but it can make them sore for the time being, and pain will more than likely give you one more thing to think about.
* Do not get on the internet late at night if you can't sleep - this will only make you more awake.
* Sleeping pills may be dangerous if you have a fire (etc.) and can't wake up.
* Some people get really scared after watching a scary movie. If you want to watch it and you get scared watch it in the daytime, so therefore later you won't have to think about the movie, because you watched it earlier.
* Some sleeping-pills have side-effects so make sure you read them before taking them.
* If you've become accustomed to falling asleep with the TV or light on then it most likely will harm your ability to sleep soundly if you turn off the TV and lights. In this situation, dimming the lights (if possible) and watching a not-hilarious and calm TV show (or a funny one that you have already seen several times) on low volume.
* Watching horror movies right before bed or at night will keep you more alert and awake. If you need to watch a movie before bed, watch a comedy movie or TV show.