Sign up for my economics class.
I try to stay awake.
Sounds crazy, but whenever I’m actively trying to stay awake, I fall asleep way faster than if I’m focusing on going to sleep.
‘I’m going to make it to the end of this program/movie. I really am.’
I usually see maybe ten more minutes of it.
Ah, the sex thing is going to work better for some than for others? I count myself among those who find a good orgasm (and there’s hardly such a thing as a bad one) incredibly relaxing. There are others, I believe, who just get excited after their first orgasm and need more to feel, uh, “done”. …But not a bad way to spend the evening, regardless.
Like others, I recommend exercise. I exercise most days AFTER work, not before.
I have a problem with my mind racing (on days I don’t exercise) too and when I was a teen i started writing a novel - in my mind, in bed. I had characters that had situations and continued the story every night I couldn’t fall asleep. Sometimes I’d “re-write” or revisit scenes. Since I’m not actually writing it down, the story can go anywhere. I’ve been “visiting” this story for over 10 years now, and it still works. These days I can’t get past the “recap of yesterday’s story” before I fall asleep 
One of my favorite things is to keep a soft, folded hand towel under my pillow. When I have trouble sleeping, I take it out and lay it over my eyes. It gently forces me to keep my eyes closed and seems to relax my mind as well.
Another thing I do is try to come up with all the words that rhyme with boat, for example. I start with A and go through the whole alphabet. I try count how many I get but often lose track. Oh well, no biggie. If I’m still awake by the time I get to Z, I start over with an different word to rhyme with. It’s a good way to keep my mind distracted from the things that are worrying me.
Drinking a shot of Vanilla Tylenol PM is a great way to sleep but, of course, this should not be a regular thing.
I like the numbers thing. I’m going to try that one next time I can’t sleep.
Sleeping on the floor also seems to be a good final step for me. I don’t know why. I had to do it last night. Maybe it’s because the only time I lay on the floor is during the post-Thanksgiving food coma, so there’s a strong association.
Wow. I do the same thing. Of course, I never do anything with what I do, because I know my plots are Mary Sue TO THE EXTREME!!!1111
Susan
As some others have mentioned, I feel strongly (for my own sleep habits) that the bed should be used for nothing but sleeping (OK, sex too). If you’re having trouble sleeping, stay in bed for no longer than 30 minutes and if you’re still awake, get out of bed and go somewhere else to watch TV, read, stare at the wall, etc. Associate the bed with the place that you sleep, and nothing else.
Except sex.
When you go to bed at night, do your normal pre-bed routine someplace else, and go to bed, turn out the light, and relax. If you normally watch TV from your bed and you’re having trouble drifting off, you’ll be telling yourself to just flip the TV back on, and that will keep yourself from mentally shutting down.
I kinda do this too, but it’s more about just keeping my eyes open. I force my eyes open and then look upwards. Not like towards the ceiling (because if I’m on my back then they’re pointed forward), I mean up towards the top of my head, whichever way my head is pointed. And try to stay that way. It makes my eyes feel very tired very quickly. And once my eyes are tired, I find I can close them and fall asleep much more quickly. (Note: this really works better if you’re mind isn’t preoccupied with things and the issue is more of not feeling tired.)
I second (now third on preview) this! The worst thing for me to do when I can’t sleep is try to sleep. Instead I pretend that I’m tired and trying to avoid sleeping. The simple mental trick works wonders for me - self-inflicted reverse psychology.
My other “go to” technique is one I learned from yoga (whichever pose involves simply lying on your back). Very simple, but surprisingly effective. When lying on your back with your arms at your side, turn your palms up towards the ceiling rather than down towards the mattress. It works for both me and my SO.
Good luck! I sympathize with your problem and hope you find some success sleeping!
I usually count my breaths. I’m almost always out by the time I reach 50, but sometimes it takes a little effort to remember to focus on my breathing rather than the thoughts that are trying really hard to race around my head.
If that doesn’t work (which is rarely), I’ll do progressive relaxation. When I was little and couldn’t sleep, my mom used to sit on my bed and talk really softly, telling me to imagine a soothing warmth flooding all my extremeties and body. She’d start with my feet and verbally work her way up, even counting out all my vertebrae. I know it sounds weird, but by the time she got to my head, I’d be out. I do that in my head when I have problems sleeping and nothing else works.
I’ve also found that eliminating TV and all other media for at least a half hour before I sleep really helps. Just reading quietly or talking to my husband winds me down and relaxes me. All the input - flashing pictures, noise, following a plot, etc. - from TV really keys me up when I’m tired but some people find TV really helpful for falling asleep - I guess it all depends on your preferences.
Also, exercising just after work helps a lot. If I do some sort of aerobic workout, I feel wonderful. The bed beneath me feels better than if I hadn’t worked out, the sheets on top of me feel softer - everything just feels…better.
Huh. I forgot about that one. I do that too. I actually have two different stories that I rotate between.