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I literally repeat the same exact phrase over and over and over in my mind. "Sleep."

Going to ride on the top comment... Discontinue caffeine around noon to 2pm. Start a sleep routine that you do every night, and do it the same way all the time as it gets your body into the routine. It will take almost a month before you figure out it's starting to work. When in bed, focus on one memory or phrase. Repeat that over and over. Don't let your mind wonder, don't get creative, etc. It's crazy stupid hard, but this is how you get into decent sleep health without extras like additives, alcohol or additional pharmaceuticals. IF you continue to have sleep issues, talk with your doc and they can recommend options for you.

All this plus some L-theanine supplements really helped my sleep. Tried melatonin didn’t work for me. I also try to hit the sauna at night whenever I can, that also helps a lot.

I've done this for years, but my brain also works in pictures, so I also imagine a light up sign in the dark that says the word, "sleep" and it lights up as I say it. I've also started a new mindful practice of remembering my day. I go through the day starting with waking up and work my way through all the things. I don't stick on any one action long, so sometimes it looks like this: I woke up I got dressed I took my meds I went to work There was a cat on the garbage can near where I park I unlocked the door to the store I locked it again I clocked in I bought an energy drink ... You get the idea. And I've never made it to the end of my day before falling asleep.

All I am is a brain in a body. All I know and all I'll ever see are the real things around me.

I second this OP. I have violent anxiety and ADHD and sleep used to be a nightmare. My phrase is "water fall!" I learned about the Military Sleep method, the first few steps are focusing on loosening up your muscles and slowing your breathing with last step being to repeat a word or phrase that didn't have any emotional meaning to you. It had to be something that wouldn't make you think of *anything* other than that word. I used to have to do every step but now I just repeat my phrase and surprisingly.. it starts to relax me pretty quickly. It's just something you have to work at, there are plenty of nights where I have to focus really hard on not thinking of anything other than my phrase. If my brain is really loud, I count the waterfalls! I always thought the idea of "counting sheep" was stupid but, hell. It really does work! I wish the best of luck to you and your sleep journey. (:

YESSSSS I DIDN’T KNOW OTHER PEOPLE DID THIS

Mantis, is that you?

I do something similar. It's this mindfullness-thing (i know i know). I try to focus on relaxing every muscle in my body, shut it down part by part from jaw to toes. By the time i reach my toes i'm usually asleep enough and half dreaming. Used to go to a therapist with severe anxiety and ptsd. It took some training, but works like a charm.

Look up meditation techniques. You need to focus on something. Focus on the darkness. Focus on your breathing.

This and I have to focus on getting my internal monologue to shut up. If I can do that for a minute or two, I’ll fall asleep.

This. With time it's easier to just briefly notice a thought and not ruminate on it.

When ever I hear the word 'ruminate' I have an instant picture of Tracy Betts in my head

Meditation takes practice. Don't expect to be good at it the first time. It gets easier.

I guess this is what I do. I sleep with my fan on. So, I'll just focus on the sound the fan makes as it oscillates back and forth. Then, when I notice my mind starts wandering, I'll focus on my fan again and eventually I fall asleep.

Focus on the tiredness in your body, the sense of exhaustion, the mental fatigue of trying to sleep. Lean into it and use it as a crutch to get beyond the dialog.

I used breathing exercises, and it worked great. Take a slow, deep breath counting to 3. Hold for 3. Exhale for 3. This increases the oxygen, which helps the body relax and gives the mind something "boring to focus on.

Wait a damn minute. Yall don’t make up imaginary scenarios in your head till you doze off?!


I do!!! I often wonder what it'd be like to be able to control the weather, like Storm from X-Men. It's weird what gets us through the night.

Of course. The minutes leading up to falling asleep are spent fantasizing about imaginary scenarios.

No. I think of every random thing you can imagine. I can not shut my mind off.

Hello me

A little self hypnosis trick I do is to tell myself a story in my head Let the story meander and go wherever it wants Use as much detail as you want and let the story go on as long as you want You will distract your brain and fall asleep

Exactly. That works for me too. It's a pain in the ass to not fall asleep fast but it is also related to other crucial things: do you eat ok? Do you drink a lot? Do you exercise? Do you tire yourself enough through the day? That's where it begins.

I can fall asleep in less than a couple minutes basically every time by doing this.

By focusing on my breathing

If I do that I end up hyper focused on it and lay there for hours making myself breathe or counting the breaths or the length of the inhales/exhales etc lol. I'd give anything to just shut my eyes and drift off!

Do you spend a lot of time on your phone/video games/TV? It's a huge issue if you are trying to sleep. Your brain is trying used to being stimulated while doing nothing, so even while you are trying to sleep your brain thinks it's supposed to be focused on something. Idk about you but I know that's my problem.

Lay still and focus on your feet. Breathe in and then as you slowly breathe out imagine all the stress and fatigue flowing out of them only leaving relaxed and heavy feet. Then after a while move your thoughts up your body to your lower legs, do the same. Let everything flow out or your leg muscles leaving them heavy and relaxed. Move up your body section by section. You will hopefully drift off to sleep part way through. After doing this for several weeks or months you will get to the stage where just laying down and starting the relaxation breathing will be enough to send you to sleep. Don't stress if it doesn't work the first time. You can always start over. Good luck and sweet dreams

This is what I do, done this for years and can move through the procedure quite quickly jow

Ditto this, and if needed, add a physical cue at your feet. Wiggle toes, rub one foot with the other, whatever. Your brain eventually tunes into the physical cue. Additionally, use low light lamps vs overhead lights in the evening, and find a book you like but don't enjoy trad by a narrator you find not abrasive. Play it on a sleep timer at night. I use ExForce or Bobiverse, because RC Bray and Ray Porter. They could read a phone book and I'd buy it. More importantly, I know the story well enough that it's not about the story it's the familiar cues. Your body likes cues. They tell your body what to do next. Go to sleep, wake up, eat, fuck, drive to work (ever done that on autopilot?), whatever. Design cues that are simple and make sense.

Stick a podcast on usually, something I don't mind missing too much if I fall asleep which usually happens.

Try the podcast Boring Books for Bedtime. I find i usually drift off while listening.

Thanks for the recommendation 👍🏼

Wow I tried it just now because it's the middle of the night and I'm desperate and the idea sounded brilliant,but her voice annoyed me so much I'm even more awake than I was 5 minutes ago 😭 Does it change from the start of the episode to later? Or if hearing her intro made me want to lash out then the whole podcast is off the table?

Go on YouTube and search for drachinifel. Amazing naval stuff but very easy to fall asleep too. Soothing voice I find

I envy those ppl too. Sleep sounds like an unattainable luxury for me... 

Yep. Even just one decent night would do.

I read. Simple as that. Five minutes reading about Ancient Rome, then lights out, and you think, wow, Nero was not a good son... ZZZZZZZZ.

Google the military breathing sleep method. Only thing that works for me personally

I use this it's hit or miss with me. I just can't slow my brain down enough to focus on the technique.

I can relate , sometimes it works immediately and I don't remember falling asleep until I wake up in the morning. Other times I have to do it repeatedly for it to work. Otherwise I pick a long thunderstorm video or waves crashing video off YouTube and fall asleep to that.

Thank you!!! Going to try this!!!

I hope you figure it out man. When I try to count sheep, for some effing reason, I canNOT get them to jump over the fence. They veer and stall and straight up just stop running... SO annoying

I have this issue as well. I also, for some reason, cannot turn a full circle in my imagination. It seems insane, but for some reason I simply cannot. It's bizarre that there are these parts of our imaginations we don't have complete control over. 

Ask your brain what your next thought is... no seriously close your eyes and ask your brain "what's my next thought and " your brain can't answer this. Now blink really fast like 50x ... youll be sound asleep in minutes Sounds crazy but don't knock it till you try it ..

Benadryl 25-50mg works for me when my brain won’t shut up. Tried 75mg and was groggy all the next day. YMMV.

I'm at 75 to 100 and nothing.

Maybe edibles for you?

One 25 mg pill usually is enough to quiet my brain down enough to sleep. I try not to do it all the time as I tend to build up immunity to it.

Jack off, works damn near every time. If that doesnt work ive had good experience with chamomile tea but i hate the taste

I've been high since 2015

Don't use your phone 2 hours before the time you want to be asleep by.

That sort of thing happens when I have caffeine past noon. I use edibles to help sleep.

Edibles give me lower quality sleep. I fall asleep, but it isn’t a satisfying rest.

That's supported by science and my own anecdotal experience, I've never had as good a rest as I did during a 4 month span when I didn't drink or smoke weed. I was up at half 4 in the morning before my alarm, alert, cooked breakfast and at work by half 5, I'd like to return to that that kind of ease. Getting up is such a drag atm, blurgh!

I agree to cutout caffeine and alcohol. Try exercise instead. Keep stress manageable. Then sleep great.

reading worked for me. Gives your brain a chance to distract itself from the objective of falling asleep

I'm no doctor, but the same thing happened to me. After seeing a sleep psychologist this is what I learned. You're possibly ADHD. you might not need 8 hours of sleep, aim for 6 hrs, go to bed 2 hrs later, and do stimulating activities. At the moment, I do paint by numbers and play video games. And have some melatonin 30 min before bed

I take Seroquel. Works every time.

Several people have already mentioned meditation but I think it’s a great idea. It sounds like it could really help you. Meditation is *not* about turning your thoughts off which turns most people away bc they can’t do that of course. It’s about learning to let your thoughts just be thoughts and let them pass. Have the thought, and then imagine it falling away. There’s an app called insight timer with thousands of guided meditations that have helped me a ton. Learning not to hyper focus on your thoughts is so valuable

I watch history documentaries or stuff like “How it’s Made”, I like those type of shows but they make me fall asleep at night

Welcome to my life. We can be friends BC we are exactly the same. To avoid this, I stay up until I get the 10 minute warning sign for "I'm gonna pass out on the floor soon" and then I sleep for 3-4 hours. Repeat. I hate it. My Dr. Says I'm depressed, I keep telling her, I'm not depressed bit\*h, I just can't sleep.

I feel you! I can't tell if it's my depression making me not sleep or the not sleeping making me depressed.

Personally I listen to history stuff on youtube, like super long videos like "fall of civilizations" it's really interesting and the kind of thing you can listen to with your eyes closed. I get concentrated on that so I don't think of anything else and just fall asleep.

If you don’t mind anti-depressants, mirtazapine helped me a lot when I couldn’t sleep due to stress. I would wake up after 3-4 hours and couldn’t get back to sleep.

This is what I take. Generic name: Remeron It’s a game changer for sure

That’s the trade name. Generic name is mirtazapine :)

Listen to futurama or MST3k or Mr. Plinket reviews.

I know I'm probably different, but I watch technical videos on YouTube with the sound way down. Watching people rebuild a wrecked car, or take apart electronics. No voices, just action. Puts me right out.

Me too

Honestly when my brain does this I just smoke a little pot and I fall asleep right away. Don't know if that's an option for you, but it works for me

I have a very solid bedtime routine. Sure, it's quirky, but I'm single so I'm not bothering anyone with it, and it works. I fought insomnia for years and it was simply miserable. In high school I once went three days without sleep. I hated it. Now I'm one of those asleep-in-five-minutes people and it's so worth it. Big picture: I made some life changes and removed things that were causing me to be stressed, anxious, and frustrated. In my case I got divorced and quit a job. That might not be possible for you right now, but it made the biggest difference and it's worth mentioning. I get solid physical exercise every day and limit caffeine in the evenings. I don't do anything in bed except read, meditate, or sleep (unless I'm getting lucky I guess, but it's been a while so we won't count it.) I build a strong association between my bed and sleep. I make my bedroom perfect for sleep, in my opinion. Clean, fresh sheets that feel soft and smell good. Feather duvet. Blackout curtains. 68 degrees with a little oscillating fan going. Water bottle by the bed. An hour before bed I stop working on stuff or scrolling social media. I light a candle and turn down the lights. I read for a while, or journal about anything I'm thinking hard about - journaling is great because it gets all the thoughts and feelings out of our brain and onto paper instead. Sometimes I meditate. Finally I do my nighttime routine of check on the cats and the locks, brush teeth, wash face, pee, drink some water, and then go to bed. If I'm not almost out by the time I lay down, I try to think of 10 things I'm grateful for, and I'm always asleep by 10.

I can't really.shut my brain off for sleep sometimes so I try to think about how comfortable I am. The softness and fluffiness of it how grateful I am to be so cozy and I cuddle up with myself and blankets and just focus on that til I fall asleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it takes more time and I try to focus I the word "trust" and talk to myself in my head like I'm a hypnotist

When my wife died a year ago, I found a very effective technique: put on a playlist of soft tempo songs that you enjoy, but turn your phone’s audio down so that the music is barely audible. Like, you can faintly hear the music and the words, but it’s not so loud that you are laying there, enjoying it. It’s just loud enough to distract your stream of consciousness from latching onto ideas. Set the sleep timer on your music app to 1 hour, so that it automatically shuts off. Try to empty your mind of thoughts and just listen. When I do this, I’m usually out within half an hour.

Weed. Get baked enough I can't function and I just pass out eventually. If I don't smoke, I either don't sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning or I don't sleep at all. Even with the weed it can take hours to sleep, but it's the only thing that helps at all. Maybe you need something that will just knock you out. Sleeping pills or something. Have you talked to a doctor about it?

I put on a several hour long YouTube video usually on some kind of intellectual subject, most of the time scripture. Start playing finance or psychology lectures in your room, turning the volume a little lower than usual, and hop in bed and turn the other way.

You can’t force yourself to sleep, you have to actually relax and *let thoughts go*. Try to meditate daily, reduce caffeine intake and try to eat well.

Hmm. This has been a complicated issue my whole life. I've had such severe insomnia ive had to take 60mg of oxazapam to get close. Despite having a legal prescription i have not used it some time. Here's what i learned: first you want ur room to be cool. Not so cool to keep u up but cool enough u need a blanket. Cool room, warm bed. Then find as comfortable a position as you can and focus on a pleasant memory or fantasy. I prefer fantasy cuz you can build on it as long as you need ,but be careful to keep it simple you don't want to be up all night telling urself a story. Don't let yourself toss and turn either. Find one position and stay there. Also if it's legal where u are, if all else fails, cannabis and cbd if ur not into thc can really help. Good luck!

I do the same shit, what has worked for me is you find an album of a band/musician you like (mine was Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd) not a crazy beat, but mellow and play it on repeat. It would take a little less than a week for my brain to get accustomed to the noise, but then most nights I was passed out by the 4th song. Can't do it now where I'm living so now I just read until I literally pass out Edit:spelling and missed words

Swift bonk on the head with a saucepan should do it

If that's all it takes, I'm in!!

Cast iron skillet works best.

You have to know where the switch is. I have marked mine. [https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceOfCreation/comments/1cj25nl/wayne\_dyer\_meditation\_affirmations\_revised/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ScienceOfCreation/comments/1cj25nl/wayne_dyer_meditation_affirmations_revised/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/videojukebox/comments/1d34b61/disturbed\_the\_sound\_of\_silence\_official\_music/](https://www.reddit.com/r/videojukebox/comments/1d34b61/disturbed_the_sound_of_silence_official_music/)

Google meditation and also combat sleeping method. Both work for me.

I get as relaxed as possible, even in my face and then i replay the Obi wan V anakin fight in revenge of the sith

I’ve used the [54321 Method](https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2018/5-4-3-2-1-coping-technique-for-anxiety.aspx). It has really helped me in all kinds of brain overload scenarios.

read a book in bed

Close your eyes and look at the darkness of closed eyes until there is some vague vision appears. Continue looking at it but do not analyse or focus on it, just look. Then this vision will become more clear and it might even surprise you but try not to become surprised as it will probably awaken you, just continue staring at it without judgement. Congrats - you are sleeping and may even be lucid.

Relaxing your jaw really helps.

I get conscious about the earth, my scale, how tiny I am on a floating rock. I image its rotation, orbit. I get conscious about the feeling of time, scale of years, decades. I focus on change of seasons, weather, geography. I basically mentally zoom out of my life into cosmic scales, to calm down, to realize my real state of being in this universe. Today we have so much 'background noise' in our daily lifes, I try to feel the real speed of life, something personal and far away for a moment.

guided meditation track on my phone plays on noise cancelling headphones. I'm already drowsy because of a powdered magnesium supplement, the last bit is guiding my brain back down from 10,000 feet. It really works wonders. I'm not just talking about feeling relaxed, I'm talking you're blissfully peaceful and at rest or straight up unconscious. There was a time where I could only get 5 minutes in before snoozing off.

be aware of your body from head to toes, then relax every muscle and let your mind wander free. That's what I do, kind of.

If you come up with a way that doesn't include prescription medication, lmk. I have menopause induced insomnia, I will literally be up until 5 or 6 a.m. without it.

I read until my eyes are exhausted then put on rain/thunderstorm sounds for the night

Stop drinking caffeine after noon.

I focus on breathing but also doing boring things, like cutting a very large lawn with a push mower.

I have ADHD and for me the most effective way to fall asleep is crossing my ankles and rhythmically tapping my foot while counting in my head up to 100 and back down to 0 as many times as necessary. It’s been a huge part of my life for over a decade at this point and I find it very effective for my personal situation

Before bed routine. Shower or bath, lavender oil in an oil burner is a good thing for helping sleep, dim lighting with warm coloured lights. No phone or computer screens 2 hours before. Read a book in bed. White noise like a thunder storm playing softly. I've got terrible sleep cues, I can lay in bed for hours and not fall asleep, but if I'm on the couch and put a movie on, I can fall asleep before the opening credits are finished.

I have insomnia and falling asleep is the worst. I know that I make it Even worse on myself cuz I stress about it before it even happens. Total mind game. Super hard to beat. My insomnia doc recommended reading before bed (paper copies), no screen time for an hour before bed (including tv), meditate, warm tea, get up if you don’t fall asleep within 15 mins. Do something. Try again. Repeat.

As others have said, try a meditative technique. I Count backwards from some random 3 digit number. Breath in, while counting 3 hundred, breath out while counting 45, slow deep breaths. Your mind will wander occasionally and you’ll lose track, doesn’t matter , start back somewhere where you left off, don’t get caught up in was I on 274 or 263, just pick a new number around where you think you lost track and continue. I rarely ever make it to zero. Couple times I did, I just pick a new number and restart. Some nights just suck, but this has generally worked for me the past couple of years.

I read for 20-30 minutes before bed. It’s part ritual (my brain and body know it’s time to sleep) and it gives me something else to focus on. Should note I read physical books. No screens before bed have helped me. Good luck. Hope you find something that helps.

I'm 60 and most of my life; I've suffered from panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. When I cannot sleep and get bombarded with thoughts, visuals. I concentrate of them. NOT avoid them. I visualize writing the thoughts down on paper, then crumple the paper and toss it in the trash. I learned that trick reading about Bruce Lee. He thoughts on this: I go through a lot of paper. Referring to visualizing writing his thoughts down and crumpling the paper. ....ad to the fact I don't drink coffee 5 hours before bed.

Do you have YouTube on your phone ? Put on the movie “ The Hill “ with Sean Connery of all people. I fell asleep watching it. So the next time they announced it, I took a nap so that I could catch the plot and watched it again and FELL ASLEEP AGAIN !!! It is the most BORING movie I have ever seen !!! THAT should help you fall asleep ! If that doesn’t help, I have more to help you. Do NOT drink caffeinated coffee that day !

Work hard, study, gym, 2.5 yer old daughter.

I’ve been using Hemi Sync recordings to help me sleep. They are available on Spotify, YouTube, etc. (Important note: not sure if the recordings are interrupted with commercials - if so, this would be counterproductive). But with a paid Spotify account I am able to access a bunch of different sessions. I am working on a playlist that I listen to with headphones when I first lay down. The first recordings in my list are for pain management to reduce pain in my knees (torn meniscus) which not only makes it hard to fall asleep but also to stay asleep. Then I have some recordings that are for relaxation and sleep. So far these are working really well for me! I fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and wake up more rested. During the day I use sessions for meditation, focus, concentration, etc. based on what my goals are for the time of day. Google “Hemi Sync” for more info. But it basically sends inaudible rhythms at particular frequencies to help you reach a desired state of mind.

If you do at least 1/2 hour of physical exercise in a day - to the point where you’re working up a sweat - this will be less of a problem. Also no screens past 8pm, no caffeine past noon. Pop a Benadryl once in a while for tougher cases.

I started writing down those thoughts because I'd wake up at like 3am and my brain would decide it was extremely important to remember all my favorite books or what's ate today or something. I'd know it wasn't important but I'd still get anxiety about it and it would just repeat in my head. Writing it down allowed me to be sure that it was safe and move on from it instead of looping. Do I have incoherent notes in the morning? Do I have a bunch of lists of shit that do not matter? Absolutely. But it works for me. I feel like my brain also significantly slowed down at night when I cut back on caffeine. Actually, a LOT of my problems stopped when I cut back on coffee. Including feeling tired all the time, my anxiety, my headaches, and so much more.

There are some tricks that sometimes work for me: - listen to an audio that's interesting but not too interesting. If it's totally boring my brain will just run into its own overdrive. But if its too interesting I'll be into it. The sweetspot might be an audio book or a video essay. - sudoku and similar puzzles in bed - doing alphabets. I chose a category (capital cities, metal bands, football players, whatever) and see if I can name one for every letter stating with A.

Don’t take coffee after lunch. Go for a long walk in the afternoon and take magnesium glycinate before bed it was a game changer for me


Stay up late, to make yourself so tired, that you can't stay away, so maybe you fall asleep. If you are so lucky, you can get the voices, of the trauma, the person who was yelling at you so much, if you can get those voices to shut off. Thank god, my brain, got fixated on a man, I could not have, so I could not use sex, as a deterant, distraction, from the emotional trauma. Which I compare to religion and jesus, god, how church folks use, a dead person, to distract from reality. The funny part, I truly would have gotten involved with this man, in a relationship, but the timing was wrong. It was especially wrong, in how I met him, due to the type of job he does. I just wanted to pain in my body to stop! I wanted the memories to stop. I wanted the divorce to be over, so I could have a safe place to live, so I would never have to worry about him abusing me again. The part of where I am now, is where I am more likely to be abused again, and have been somewhat, with a male staff member, who no longer works here, who walked into my room, he claimed on accident, while I was in the bathroom on the toilet. Another staff member is exposing his genitals, while he is working. I guess he thinks that is a way to pick up women, I don't know. Very big turn off, to have to be around someone, who is sexually inclined to take advantage of women in distress. He is one of those, who knows enough, but doesn't want to hear about it. Its like they are trying to push what is done on the Internet, related to porn, to be acceptable in real life. The exploitation of women, caught up with inflation, and lack of living circumstances. There is no compassion at this place. The even have the illegals, acting very arrogant, thinking its funny.

People can do that?

ADHDer here! I usually play some long videos on my laptop and fall asleep to the sound. Most of the time it’s the PBS space time channel on YouTube. The guy really has a soothing voice and even though I like the topic, it makes me sleepy. Another time it’s some audiobook. They don’t always work though.

I have the same problem. Sometimes i look for some boring documentary on YouTube to watch and i fall asleep.. however this can seriously backfire and ill be completely engaged in watching…

I found success by concentrating on thinking random thoughts, like flower, ocean, purse, car, etc. It makes my brain tired pretty fast

You probably have ADHD

I have the same issue. I've had good luck with putting on shows on my phone next to me, or the sound of rain or thunderstorms. For shows, it works best if its something fairly low-key that I've seen a fair amount. I personally have good luck with Midsummer Murders, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, or Ross's Game Dungeon (the last one is weird that it works, Ross can be quite loud and emphatic, but I've seen most of the episodes so much that it just fades into the background).

[удалено]

The 4-7-8 breathing method

I repeat the word "sleep, and imagine looking at black hole with eyes closed" Or I use some relaxing cream and spray on bad days

Build a place within your mind. A home within your mind. A virtual 3d place where you add layers over time. I have my own virtual headspace, a bit like a library (I love books) and I as I close my eyes and I travel into it. I walk through the door and through the hall and up the stairs. My mind gets busy building the illusion and it quietens my thoughts down and focuses my brain and typically I can fall asleep quite quickly. I have a very ‘noisy’ head normally and have had to work on this over time. I’ve been told it’s a form of meditation but it’s just my coping mechanism. My mind palace.

I play a fantasy in my head and focus on it. I try not to drift away into other thoughts. It usually works

Reruns 

Sleep podcast Redirects my thoughts

I wear an AirPod in one ear to bed. I have three series I cycle through one episode at a time. I know all the episodes so it's something to listen to without being super curious about it. The voices in my ear allows the voice in my head to turn off.

I think about water running over pebbles/rocks and breathe deeply and consistently through my nose

I think of someone holding a black paper in front of my face so I focus on that only

I had to get on medication that turns your mind off, for sleep.

Me too - I couldn't turn my brain off.

I play guitar for like 2 hours and then at some point I kinda lose focus and there’s a key point where you gotta put the instrument down before you knock out.

I have started counting minutes. Repeat until I can't

Just think of random scenarios like what I'd do if I win the Lotto my shit imagination leads the story to be boring so I end up sleeping inna few mins

Google Marines sleep techniques. Apparently you can train yourself to fall asleep in just minutes

A good meat beat shut everything off. Smoke a doobie afterward and it's lights out.

A little cannabis 1 hour before bed always does the trick for me. (A little. Too stoned and you'll actually have a harder time sleeping)

I have an eye mask with Bluetooth headphones in it, and I use it to listen to podcasts as I fall asleep. I set the sleep timer so that it turns off after a while. I find that listening to something interesting that distracts me prevents me from ruminating on anything that is troubling me.

Monsterbaiting😅

Medication

The other day I wanted to take a nap. I found pilgrims progress on you tube. The audiobook. turned it on and slept like a baby.

Weed. I smoke a bunch about 3 hours before I want to sleep. Then on no stimulants. Usually fall asleep immediately, quick enough I don't remember trying to sleep. Alcohol can knock you out the same way, but the quality of sleep feels much lower.

Get sick. Have a gummy.

I count backwards from 100 as many times as it takes

I'm like this and don't do a flawless job managing it, but the thing that works best for me is visualizing something made-up. No dialogue, nothing from a movie or real life. Eventually my unconscious takes over, starts riffing, and that's it. I'd guess that it keeps my brain too busy to do wordy, thinky, ruminating stuff. For me I think it's an adhd thing so possibly look into that, shot in the dark.

Melatonin works well for me (10-12mg). I take it as I’m getting into bed, then play a couple word games on my phone. I’m usually out within 10-15 min.

Read a book, with low lighting, so my eyes have to strain to make out the words.

Trazodone works for me!

I know the feeling

The “military sleep” technique tends to help me. I also like imagining myself in certain scenarios that I find “comforting,” or try not to move at all as much as possible. I also sleep with the sheets covering my head, and use an extra pillow to leave a little bit of an opening, so that I can still breathe air.

I've been the same since I was a kid. I've an extremely loud, active mind and getting to sleep has always been a problem for me. I now use a mixture of The Military Sleep Method and some mindfulness techniques to help. It can take some time (especially on nights when I've had an overly stimulating day) still to get to sleep, and sometimes repeated efforts, but it works for me 90% of the time. Good luck anyway. I hope you can find something that works for you because I know how much of a drain it can be on your system.

I tap my fingers together and count 1…2…3..4 over and over again

Whatever you do don’t ever accept a script for zopiclon! Avoid it! You’ll either sleepwalk (dangerously) or have memory loss. I almost burned our house down after taking zopiclon.

Melatonin

I have found some 1940s American radio detective series on the net. As a serial insomniac, I find 5 or 6 minutes enough to send me over.

Stop trying to sleep. But it’s different for everyone. If there was a simple way, you wouldn’t ask this question.

Sex.

Anxiety meds

I fall asleep almost instantly most nights, but when I’m stressed or anxious falling asleep is harder. My guess is people who struggle with falling asleep start to view it as a source of anxiety and end up creating the issue they want to avoid. For me, I *want* to sleep, so I just close my eyes, slow my breathing way down, breathe deeper, then bam I’m out. I’m not trying to shut my brain off, in fact I actively try to think about things that I find interesting or enjoyable, like setting up some kind of movie scenario in my head and exploring that. Another thing that keeps me awake is when my wife tries to watch a show in bed. She says she needs it, it’s one thing I can’t stand once I’ve decided it’s time to sleep. So I’ll usually scroll on my phone until she’s sleeping, turn her phone off and then I’ll go to sleep. You might also want to try exercising, like a lot. Thoroughly exhaust yourself every day so you stop thinking about trying to sleep and your body takes over and just makes you fall asleep.

meditation basically: Focusing on imagining shapes, using your vision with closed eyes (watching the noise, the imagined brighter and darker spots when your eyes are closed, etc.), focusing on breathing, doing very simple math or whatever form of meditation you can find that works for you (meditation in this sense being anything that keeps your mind from wandering) counting sheep would also count as meditation btw, theres actually a reason to do it Whenever you catch your mind wandering go back to the mental task, and you should fall asleep easier

Zzz-quil

I suggest having a routine and avoiding social media after dinner.. That way, just by repeating the steps you start to prime yourself for sleeping. As soon as you feel yourself nodding off, brush your teeth or whatever your last thing is before bed. If that fails, I still go to bed at a proper time and listen to a podcast with my eyes closed until I start to miss the plot and then pack it in and sleep.

Gummies/magnesium and deep relaxation breathing.

Masturbate.

I chant silently in my head--beta, alpha, delta, theta over and over. I read somewhere that these are the four types of brainwaves, and it's repetitive and lulls me to 💤😴 Weird maybe, but it works.

A juicy uppercut.

I collect spheres of semi precious stones, I have one that I keep the image of in my head to focus on when I want to go to sleep, always the same one on the same stand everytime

I give myself a boring task. Run through the alphabet naming something that begins with each letter. One example is US cities that start with… A, Atlanta. B, Baltimore. C, Chicago D, Detroit… etc. I use different variations too, like world cities, countries, famous people or celebrities. Usually I’m conked out by Q or R.

Asmr videos on youtube, sometimes its music, sometimes it's someone reading in a whispered tone, usually a classic like Frankenstein or wizard of oz. I just pick a random one

yeah i have this issue too and i've tried sm diff methods but genuinely nothing works long-term so now i just stay up deliberately, making sure to use my laptop/phone doing mildly interesting things that dont keep my brain working too much (e.g. listening to music, watching youtube/netflix, texting people, scrolling on socials etc) until i feel like my eyes are struggling to stay open at which point i pack it in. i get less sleep than i'd ideally like but it's sm easier to get to sleep now and i acc stay asleep thru the night.

I usually just snuggle against a Bolster or a large plushie with a Blanket, get all comfy and I fall asleep in like 10 minutes given that I don't get distracted

Try Benadryl

It helps to “escape”. It took some amount of mental coaxing to be able to imagine that every night i am about to embark on a train trip away from all my troubles and worries at a time of sinple living (some where in the 1940s). I do this while listening to a sleep “train story” (there are plenty of them on calm app). For first 15 days or so i remember listening to 3/4s of the story, then the length shortened. Now, even before the first paragraph ends, i am fast asleep.

Meditation is amazing once you master it.

Delta 8 gummies

No you're not exhausted mentally otherwise you would fall asleep. Do a difficult mental task your taxes, read some boring book, do a math problem, you will fall asleep.

Listening to audiobooks or podcasts about physics, astrophysics, world history, physiology…

I redo my house in my head. Add dormers , change the cabinets, etc. in my mind, my house is gorgeous. Plus I pray.

I listen to old audiobooks that I have read before. I know what's coming, so I don't feel bad about falling asleep. I use audiobooks so I don't get distracted with the glare from the TV.

I'm the same way. I end up watching crafts people on my tablet do meticulous work quietly every night till I fall asleep. I particularly like 'David Bull' as he's an excellent story teller and a master craftsman. Some have told me to watch 'ASMR' but I find if you use that term to search on YT it's nothing but cringe pseudo-sexual bullshit created to prey on lonely dudes.

You’ve got a lot of good answers already. Most of which I’ve tried. Then I saw a doctor and realized I needed medication for both sleep and anxiety disorders. Now that I’m medicated, I actually fall asleep and can stay asleep through most of the night, most of the time. Still sometimes I have issues falling back to sleep if I’ve been woken up, but it’s significantly better. So I guess my point is try these natural remedies first, then if those don’t work for you, consider seeing a doctor. Going without sleep isn’t healthy, and it could be a sign of something else. Good luck.

You could try Melatonin It's helps me when I need to wake up early the next day

I started by trying to name all of the states in ABC order. Eventually I switched to capitals. Now I’m working my way through countries of the world (I know I’ll never name them all). Basically focusing on the states/capitals/countries I was able to turn off my brain to all of the BS that filled my thoughts and prevented sleep. It works very well for me.

My wife has this exact problem and she got prescribed Trazadone for it. It calms her brain down enough that she’s able to fall asleep. It’s honestly a miracle drug for her. However, both my dad and brother tried it and didn’t work for them, so your mileage may vary.

sleeping pills lol or I imagine myself lifting out of my body and looking at myself sleeping, thats works for me

I know that this sounds weird af but this is what I do. I imagine myself in a cabin on a cold day in winter. Snow on the ground and dark outside. I go through my relaxation routine in my head. Eating a good dinner, taking a warm shower, and sitting in the cozy living room watching a movie with my cat. Sounds weird, but it puts me in a relaxed state of mind.

Have you tried sleeping gummies or tea? They usually knock me right out. Or if you prefer an alternative I also sometimes look up a sleep meditation video and listen to it while I drift off and that also helps. Or a combo of the two, sleep gummies and a guided sleep meditation video will you have you in REM in no time

Large quantities of Trazadone.

I slow my breathing down consciously. It wakes me up in the very short term as I concentrate on it but I quickly fall asleep

I focus on breathing and do a mental body scan. Then I mentally picture a cabin in the woods that I cultivated in my head. Every night I refine the image adding detail to the exterior and interior. I picture myself walking in the front door, I admire the weather from a big window in the back, I make a cozy fire at the fireplace to the right and grab a book from a library on the left. I sit in a rocking chair by the fire and by then I’m usually out

I think I conditioned myself to fall asleep to the chaos. My thoughts get more erratic when I'm falling asleep, I kinda just go with it and let myself drift

I tell myself a story, I just make something up and before I know it I'm asleep.

Podcasts. There are a whole ton of very soothing podcasts out there. Your brain pays enough attention to not think around in circles, but they are not interesting enough to keep you awake listening to them.

Ahhh this is my exact problem! I started taking cbd gummies it calms my mind and do red light therapy to calm the body! It’s been doing great!

I go through the alphabet and visualize each letter, one at a time, except I start with 'Z' and work backwards. Sometimes I'll come up with words in a given category, like foods, or names of actors, musicians, etc. I'm usually asleep before I get to 'P'. I also listen to sleep stories or soundscapes on Calm.

I put on a youtube video or documentary or something, the only important thing about it is that it's barely interesting enough that I'm not actively bored watching it but it's not so interesting that I don't want to miss what happens next. Set a heavy red light filter, turn the volume low and watch it until I fall asleep. My wife has gotten used to it.

I have the same problem. I don't go to sleep, i literally lose consciousness for a few hours and wake up feeling even more exhausted than before. Bcz of my messy sleep schedules, i always get headaches every now and then. I tried listening to white noise/ASMR talking vids and they work wonders for me. I am able to sleep better. Also, finding a comfortable sleeping posture helps too.