One of my specialty areas is insomnia treatment. Below, I include 8 tips for better sleep.
Practice mindfulness meditation. Practicing meditation will allow you to not get caught up with thoughts you may have when you are having difficulties falling asleep. This skills helps you not get caught up in worries about not getting enough sleep, and teaches you that these types of thoughts come and go.
Don't do anything but sleep or sex in your bed. By only using your bed for sleep, your bed starts to associate your bed with sleep. If you work/read/watch TV in bed, your body starts getting confused.
Don't bring electronics into bed. Ideally, you should also not use electronics 30-60 minutes before sleep due to the blue light.
If you are hungry, get a snack. Often, my clients with EDs say that they cannot fall asleep because they are hungry. Regardless, don't ignore your hunger because you are already in bed. Go to the kitchen, and get snack. If you find yourself constantly hungry when trying to fall asleep , it probably means that you need to eat more throughout the day - or a heartier dinner/bedtime snack.
Wake up at the same time every day. Your body thrives on a constant wake time (which is more important than a regular bedtime). Try to wake up at roughly the same time every day. Even on weekends, do your best to wake up within an hour (or at most, two) of your weekday wake time
Keep your room at a cool temperature. Research shows that people sleep better when the room is at a cool temperature.
Keep your room dark. Turn off all lights and pull down the window shades.
If you can't fall asleep, get up. If you can't fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up, and do something relaxing (e.g., read a book - DO NOT work or use electronics) until you are sleepy.
