Obviously it’s person-dependent. I find what helps me most is turning on audio to something I actually want to listen to. That gets my mind off going to sleep. And I fall asleep instead of listening to the things I want to hear. So I’ve got a bunch of audiobooks from Audible. I’ve recently cancelled that, however. I’ve got so many, and plan to use the phone app Libby in conjunction with my local library. Also, I subscribe to a bunch of podcasts.

When I lie down I just set the timer to 30m or “end of chapter”, and I rarely have to extend that.

I went to the doctor and told them I had insomnia. Got diagnosed with depression. So now I take Seroquel and sleep ok. My point is to get a doctor’s opinion to rule out a medical condition.

If I cant watch/listen to content I try to “render” a pov trip of like a rollercoaster or some sort of “on rails” vehicle going through some sort of landscape whether its a realistic cityscape, abstract and colorful shapes, a tunnel underground or though an ocean. I let my brain sorta just decide what it wants to do like if the landscape changes I dont try to go back to the previous one or try to “customize” it. Its a bit hard to explain what I mean without me sounding like im talking about my brain as a completely separate entity from myself but it really is like it has a mind of its own and im just letting it do its thing as long as the topic is “strictly” to generate a scene of going through a tube or riding a “pre determined” path. If it starts to get “bored” and even very slightly veer back into normal thoughts or something else I sorta quickly but gently nudge it into another scene or to increase the detail which is hard for maybe the first minute or two but with this method im asleep really quickly. At the start ill probably switch “scenes” a couple times a second.

It feels like im letting the brain sorta tire itself out with a method that can be described as gently guiding a boat downstream

Still awake op?

What I usually do is think about all the time today when I wanted to be left alone. To be uninterrupted. To just get five minutes to myself.

Because now, I have it. I have all the time in the world. I can do nothing. I can let my mind wander. No one will interrupt, no one will dump bullshit on me. Countless times today I just wanted a pause button for five minutes and now I have hours to just do nothing.

Then I wake up and realize “nope, all that time is now gone”. Can’t catch a fuckin break.

Focus on your breathing, and how the air feels in the back of your throat.

Repeat a mdeditative mantra in your head.

Do the thing where you tense up your whole. Ody and then slowly release it from the fingers and toes inwards. I think this is what US marines use to get to sleep in adverse conditions.

Play an audiobook on speaker quietly under your pillow. The more boring the story, the better. They have non-story podcasts just for this too.

When I close my eyes and see my demons, I engage them in a staring contest and fall contentedly asleep.

Apps that generate soft sounds of rain or waves.

Hammer or perhaps large frying pan

1. Daily Exercise
2. Concept Album musics

Consistent daily exercise

For me, what works is an ADHD medication along with not trying to fall asleep. Trying to fall asleep causes me something in the area of anxiety and guilt, so I end up frustrating myself awake. If I focus on a mindless task like scrolling through Lemmy or reading a book, I get engaged in that and end up accidentally falling asleep. The funny thing is that I have to keep doing my mindless task until I fall asleep, so many times, I wake up looking like I passed out in the middle of something with my glasses still on and my phone laying around. I’m actually curiously impressed that my glasses or phone haven’t broken yet.

Look up Progressive muscle relaxation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_muscle_relaxation

There are plenty of videos on YouTube, try a few and pick one you like.

Concentrating on breathing also helps.

First your bed is for sleep and sexy times and nothing else. That way your body is conditioned to go to bed whenever you lay down. Doing other actions in your bed reduces this impulse.

Second, monitor your stimulant usage which includes tea, soda or coffee. Caffeine impacts your sleep more than many realize.

Finally stop lolking at screens an hour or so before bed.

My (probably not very healthy) hack is to watch YouTube. My brain focuses on one thing and all the thoughts keeping me up just stay quiet.

If you have persistent sleep problems even after applying all the advice, if you can afford it, consider taking a sleep test/study to learn what’s the core issue