Try to feel SAFE instead of trying to relax yourself to sleep.

You can’t go to sleep if you don’t feel safe, unless you become completely exhausted. Then, when you doze off, you usually wake up about 1 hour later, only this time you are wide, wide awake.

A woman once told me that she had to go through a routine in her mind to make her feel safe at night so that she could go to sleep.  If she didn’t go through the routine, she couldn’t get to sleep.  She would imagine that she was going into a secret cave where there was a secret door in the wall.  A special rock was the key to open the wall and when she pressed this rock in a certain way, the door opened for her.  Then she entered her bedroom and the door closed solidly behind her. She could then go to bed in this imaginary bedroom and sleep soundly.

Trying to relax when the problem is being scared or anxious about something, usually doesn’t help you to get to sleep.

Your daily routine affects your sleeping pattern.
Sleep is a part of the day and night rhythm of the body. The time that you get up out of bed in the morning, affects when you get to sleep at night. If you work Monday to Friday and regularly get up at 6.30 am, even getting up 1 hour later on the weekends can upset this rhythm, especially if you don’t sleep well at the best of times. This disruption can make it harder to get to sleep at night and also makes it a lot more difficult to get up at 6.30am on Monday.  This can make you feel sluggish on Monday and Tuesday and leave you feeling like you haven’t had a good night’s sleep. If you do have sleep difficulties, resist the urge for a long lie on the weekend and maintain your pattern of getting out of bed at the same time on a consistent basis.

Don’t get too hot when you’re trying to get to sleep.
Your core body temperature, that is the temperature of your vital organs, does not actually stay the same all of the time. It changes as part of your day and night cycle. This temperature actually drops a little as you initially fall asleep. That is why it can be difficult to fall asleep if you are in a hot country in the summer and can’t cool down enough.

This is NOT to say that you should let yourself get too cold when you go to sleep, but avoid making the room temperature too hot and don’t wrap yourself up in too many blankets and covers. If you get too hot it can be difficult to get to sleep.

Don’t exercise too close to bedtime.
Regular exercise can make you physically tired and make it easier to get to sleep, but it can also stimulate the brain, the muscles and the heart rate making it difficult to get to sleep.

Don’t eat too close to bedtime.
It can cause indigestion and blood sugar may drop a little after 1-2 hours, waking you up again.

Don’t take too much alcohol or caffeine either during the day or close to bedtime.

Avoid too much television immediately before going to bed.
Some adult programmes can make you tense and stimulated when you should be relaxed and snoozy. Try reading a book instead, or listening to some calming music.

Likewise for several hours before bedtime, avoid certain all action video and PC games, especially ones which leave you frustrated and annoyed.