for me, i find background watching/ listening to history videos really effective. Not sure what the rationale there is, but that's how it goes.

For those who like sounds while sleeping, I heartily recommend mynoise.net. It has amazing soundscapes... static noises, rainforest wildlife, medieval library, starship bridge... It is excellent for sleeping, adding some background noise, or enhancing the atmosphere of a DND session.

Antiques Roadshow.

I agree with what other people have said plus:

The bed should only be used for sleeping, when you wake up get out of bed and don't go back. Don't use your laptop or phone in bed, if you still have a tv - don't watch it in bed.

This helps set the situational subconscious expectation that the bed is for sleeping.

I've found that I have to keep my hands off my body, the stimulation of being touched keeps me alert.

Exercise will control your circadian rhythm, set your metabolism on a more consistent routine, and help you sleep better. Endurance based exercises are best; cycling, swimming, running, rowing, etc. You need 1 hour every 3 days at a minimum in my experience. Don't think in terms of a week, just do it somewhere between daily and every 3 days no matter what. Even someone like me that has major chronic health problems from a broken neck and back manages to pull off this one. In fact, I fall apart and turn into a sleepless zombie if I fail to maintain my exercise routine. I'm likely one of the most sleep deprived people here. This works when nothing else does or is possible.

Turn on some video without commercials and something at a more or less constant volume, like Ancient Aliens or How It's Made. Set the sleep timer for 30 min. Turn the screen off if your TV supports it. Set the volume low/moderate. Get comfortable in bed in your favorite position, close your eyes, and listen to the video. I usually don't ever hear the sleep timer turn it off.

I like to think of nostalgic memories.

Noise canceling headphones plus Brownian noise.

https://archive.org/details/brownnoise_202103

In my case Sennheiser hd450bt.

Turn off phone data, so only regular texts from VIP can break through DND.

Solitaire, crosswords or codewords app to sleep. Voyager with pagination on if you really want to read but have an end page.

I have been practicing the 99 count down of breath. Each breath count down.
Slow down your breathing as you count. Your thoughts will drift off and that’s good, but come back to it as soon as you realize you stopped counting. I rarely get past 50. The more you practice the better you will get at it, as sleep likes routine.

5mg melatonin and 200mg L-Theanine works for me. I order from Thorne. I believe they are reputable.

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Exercise

I turn the brightness on my phone as low as it goes, turn on night shift to get rid of blues, and read (white text on black background / dark mode).

Don’t read in continuous scroll; find a way to turn the page with minimum animation.

Read something you don’t find so compelling as to keep turning pages but enough that you’re happy to read.

I find history books most successful at the moment since there is often no desire by the author to build tension, suspense, etc that keeps you alert.

That's a great question to not have a good answer to. I've been smoking weed and drinking vodka cause I'm bored and will inevitably pass out eventually but that's not good advice

I used to struggle with sleep. It turned out I’m bipolar. Thankfully, it mellows with age and I learned how to manage it. I was probably ~23 when I got diagnosed. Just sharing because it’s useful to know that sometimes there’s a very specific reason why sleep seems elusive.

You can get sleeping pills for such a situation. I also use melatonin gummies. You can get CBD gummies in a lot of places. Meditation might help.

The most important aspect of sleep management for me is keeping a solid routine. I go to bed at the same time every night and get up early even on my days off. Breaking that routine leads to issues, resuming the routine solves them quickly.

https://www.realsimple.com/military-sleep-method-7552781

Two things that helped me in the past year:

• Avoiding caffeine after 10:00AM or so. I cut coffee completely, but I noticed positive effects by just drinking all caffeine before ~10:00AM.
• Sleep mask helped me a ton. Turns out we are super sensitive to the most minute amount of light.
• At least for me, not eating past ~6:00PM makes falling asleep way easier.
• Regular exercise (of any kind) allows you to fall sleep easier. Probably has to do with regulating hormones/biological subsystems.
• NO PHONE on bed. Bed is only for sleep and sex. In my opinion anyway.

Hope this helps!

Don't try to fall asleep.

The effort is what's keeping you awake. Sleep when you feel tired.

If you don't feel tired at night, then you may not be doing enough mental or physically engaging activities during the day.

History documentaries with good narrator and minimal loud music

If you have trouble sleeping in general, it might be a bad habits thing. Melatonin supplements can help to get you tired. 1mg before you go to bed is enough, if you try to relax and sleep. They don't do anything if you do stuff that keeps you awake however.

This particularly anything exciting like sports, listening to energetic music, watching tense movies, playing fast or demanding games etc. Avoid any such thing for at least two hours before you try to sleep.

As some others have mentioned, regular workout will help a lot. Another thing you can do is cardio for 10 minutes before sleep and ending with a few minutes stretch to tire and loosen up your body. Also try to sleep at the same time daily. Your circadian rhythm will aid you too.

Achieve alot during the day

A lil weed before bed has been a game changer for me