ATTENTION INSOMNIACS: HOW TO FALL ASLEEP (Cosmopolitan)

• Make a Plan of Action: When you’re stressed out about the gazillion things you need to accomplish the next day, jot your thoughts down. Seeing the list in writing will help you feel more in control, and knowing you can review it in the morning will help you push it out of your brain for the night.
• Create a Bedtime Story: If you can’t stop analyzing something that happened earlier in the day, distract yourself with some creative visualization. Picture yourself in a place that’s unrelated to whatever’s dominating your thoughts, and focus on the specifics of the scenario. This distracts you from your stimulating thoughts.
• Hide the Clock: When you’re wired, any sensory stimulation in the room can make it worse. The biggest culprit: the digital clock. One thing that contributes to sleeplessness is the stress of lying there at 3 a.m. and watching the time go by on the clock.
• Try the Comb Trick: While lying on your back with your eyes closed, take a comb and make short upward strokes on your right hand. Start at your fingertips, then gradually move to your palm, then to your wrist, then up your arm, all the way to your shoulder. Repeat on the other side.
• Soak in a Warm Bath: Once you leave the warm water, your core body temperature drops, which can signal the body that it’s time to sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. So if you suspect you’re going to have trouble nodding off, or if you’re in bed but doing more worrying than dreaming, hit the tub for about 15 minutes.
• Get Busy: The hormones produced at orgasm cause relaxation that often leads to sleep. You figure it out.
• Melt Into the Bed: Experts say this exercise is the gold standard in go-to-sleep techniques. When your sympathetic nervous system is activated, your muscles tense up, and that keeps you alert. Tame that tension with this exercise: Focus on your feet and try to make them feel very heavy, as if they’re sinking into the bed. Next, focus on relaxing your ankles. Repeat on one small area at a time as you very slowly work your way up your body, until you reach your head.