Continuing on the topic of my previous article about the right amount of sleep a night, my senior year I had a significant sleeping issue. I was getting about 3-5 hours of a sleep a night because I could not fall asleep at 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., so I would stay awake until 2 or 3 a.m., sometimes 5 a.m. This is post is not about me or my previous problems, but I went to a therapist and this what she advised me, so if you have hard time falling asleep this what helped me.
Restart your sleeping cycle with Melatonin. The first two to three nights try go to bed at between 10:00 to 11:00 pm, so take melatonin roughly 30 minutes before 10:00 pm. Do this first two or three nights.
Take a warm shower right before. Warm shower calms down the body, which is going make it easier to fall asleep.
Do not look at your phone, tablet or computer. Basically, anything that has a bright screen. Because the bright screen has the same effect as the sun, so it stimulates a day light.
Do not look at the time. If you cannot fall asleep one of the worst things to do is to look at the time and say: “It is already 1 a.m. and I can not fall asleep. If I do not fall asleep within 10 minutes, I will be so tired.” It is unnecessary put yourself under this type of pressure.
Focus on your breathing. This is going to calm you down, but also take you to present time. You will stop think about the future and the past.
Before you go to bed spend 20-30 minutes of doing something for yourself. In other words, do something that you enjoy that is going to help you to escape from reality little bit. For example, reading a book, listening (not watching) favorite TV show or listening to a music.
Reading helps with falling asleep as well, but I think everyone knows it.