Read a really long book with big words I don't understand.

Well, if you are the type to shower before sleeping, you could try exercising before that. You will be tired from working out, and relaxed from a hot shower- you will fall asleep as soon as you fall in your bed!
Also, you could try not thinking about anything (I say this b/c sometimes one tends to start thinking about the day and all that- which I think ends up waking one up b/c your mind has to be awake) and breathing deeply.

Oh my god... I take at least an hour to fall asleep, if I'm lucky. It doesn't matter what I did that day, I could have hiked all day, sat all day, or worked all day, but even when I'm extremely exhausted it STILL takes an hour or more. Every once in a blue moon it only takes 45 or even 30 minutes, but I could never fall asleep in 5-10 minutes. It's weird because my mother and sister are out in 5-15 minutes, while I've had sleeping problems and insomnia since I was little.

I suggest we both go buy some melatonin. I've heard it really works. But sorry my comment is advice-less. If I could help you I wouldn't also have such trouble.

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It depends on the day, weather, time ect. as to how fast i fall asleep. I head a good trick is to close your eyes and try to stay awake with your eyes closed. It actually does work. I used to have really bad insomnia and someone told me to count sheep. I was awake till 4am counting to a thousand and back again.....

I can fall asleep in maybe 5 when I'm REALLY tired (or when I'm sick I can just pass out right there cuz I always get totally nauseous), but when there's something big/exciting the next day, like first day of school or an oral presentation I can take hours to fall asleep. On a regular day its maybe 15-30 minutes.

On moving vehicles, it takes only a few minutes for me to sleep.
When I'm tired I can fall asleep within 3 minutes, but when I'm not tired it could take hours.

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Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

I actually have problems falling asleep 90% of the time just cause I like being awake at night. n_n
To fall asleep it's quite the task that takes about 5 minutes.

First I count down from 12 to 0 in my head.
Then I count down from 12 to 0 again, but this time visualizing the count down like a movie (eyes closed)
Then I imagine a white board (chalk board whatever) and write down all the things that I'm thinking about and are keeping me awake. I then erase them from the board.
Then I write "Sleep" on the board and focus on it until I eventually fall asleep.

Since I've started using this type of meditation to sleep my dreams have become more vivid and it's easier to remember them.

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Since I'm usually awake for deep into the night, I regularly have problems falling asleep, times flies by too fast. Takes me at least 30 minutes to fall asleep, and it sucks, but it helps me when I make up stories in my head, I get caught up in it and usually just start dozing off...

I really need to learn to sleep early.

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www.Hyperiums.com

To the question do I go to sleep quickly?
It depends really. It should take you at least 15 minutes to go to sleep. If you fall asleep within 15 minutes it means you're not sleeping enough. So in cases when I have been sleep deprived for several days I'll go to sleep in a minute or two. Otherwise it'll take me more than 15 minutes to go to sleep.
Whenever I'm stressed, or not tired I find that I do lay there awake (with my eyes closed, but I feel awake). Like I said it depends.



(Seeing as this thread is old I hope you the OP isn't still having trouble sleeping)
On possible tips on how to go to sleep.
- Sleep deprive yourself for several days, heh. That means getting around 3-4 hours of sleep a day.
- For me I can't sleep without having some sort of sound on. I normally put on a movie I've seen already (so I don't want to watch it instead of going to sleep), and listen to the movie. I pass out before the movie ends. Music doesn't work with me, because I find that I wake up an hour later or something. Actually whenever there isn't a movie playing I find I just stay awake in the silence.
- Do some sort of energy consuming activity like dancing?
- Yeah that's all I got. I don't take sleeping meds or any kind of meds ...

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To naturally induce sleep: shut down or dim lights starting an hour before you go to sleep to simulate nightfall. Don't use computer, but if you absolutely must, dim the screen possibly use sunglasses too. And still, stop using the computer / watching the TV at least a little before sleep. Don't drink alcohol, as though it can help you to fall asleep faster, a couple of hours after the consumption it'll start acting as a stimulant meaning you're not sleeping as deep and therefore the sleep isn't as effective.

I know someone who falls asleep better if she first drinks coffee. Even so, the same effect as with alcohol ensues. Physical activity as you said might help, but make sure you leave good time to relax before going to sleep as with physical activity the adrenaline levels rise possibly making falling asleep harder instead, or at least has effect similar to what I mentioned earlier. If you feel drowsy, your eyelids feel heavy, go to sleep before it passes.

On adjusting your circadian clock. Artificial light (as is said of fire) is a good servant but a bad master. Use artificial light to simulate sunrise and sunset. If you have equipment necessary you can make light increased little by little before you wake up to simulate sunrise. Even if you can't, when you wake up, turn all the lights on as if sun has risen, whether it actually has or not. About an hour to hour and half before you go to sleep start turning lights off, dim the lights to simulate dusk. And to get best results actually go to sleep in the evening and wake up in the morning. Adjust it according to natural day-night cycle.

When you wake up at the same time each morning your blood pressure rises and your brain starts producing (stops producing) whatever it's called accordingly before you wake up, in effect waking you up little by little, which means you'll feel more alert when you do wake up. This is also why, after a long night at work, partying or whatever, as long as it doesn't happen every other day, it's more effective to still wake up at the same time (and feel tired) and go to sleep early the next evening instead of sleeping late and ruining your regular wake-up time.

I know I don't remember and possibly mistook some technical terms as this isn't really my area of expertise, but otherwise this is all pretty much fact.

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Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

Well, I adjust the time that I'll sleep so I can sleep in less than 5 mins.. I always sleep 3 in the morning so I'm pretty much already stressed at that time.. But there are instances in which I cannot fall asleep, like when I'm so excited about something that I cannot stop thinking about.. My tricks in times like this is to turn off all the lights and stop thinking about what's getting me excited and think about a black screen instead, works everytime..

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Tournament Round 1
Round 2

Kuuuuhhh, I retract what I said...

I have a big problem, I cannot sleep instantly like I used to,
And, it takes me about 30 mins just to fall asleep, which usually means, sleeping at 3:30~4am in the morning,
This had been occurring for a week or two already, and I'm not happy about it, I'm kinda, sleep deprived...

I also specifically recharged my Ipod just to try sleeping with music on, (haven't been using it since, dunno, not into music atm)
Will try this method later, hope it works

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Tournament Round 1
Round 2

haven't been sleeping well for quite a while too. ever since i moved out, I'm sleeping rather well, must've been something in my surroundings, or probably just a different daily routine.
Anyways, u could just stay awake reading mangas until you're really really tired, u'll fall asleep quickly

If I had an exhausting day, I fall asleep quickly...and almost anywhere. Give me a minute or 2 and I'm out~ (However, don't do exercise right before you go to bed. It can actually keep you up for a bit.)

On usual days, I just think of stories with my eyes closed and my face between blankets/pillows to reduce the amount of light getting to my eyes. It takes me anywhere from 10-30min to fall asleep unless I had coffee earlier.

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I put on some of those sleep sounds and concentrate on just keeping my breathing steady then I plunk out in 15.