Below is a list of tips for improving sleep. 
                                  

1. Develop a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. This includes weekends.
2. Have a bedtime routine. This helps set the mood for sleep.
3. Maintaining a consistent sleep/wake routine.
4. Do not spend excessive time in bed. If you can't fall asleep in 20 minutes get out of bed and come back when you are sleepy.
5. Use the bed for only sex and sleep.
6. Relaxation therapy is helpful especially right before bed. This may include taking a hot bath or practicing progressive muscle relaxation, breathing or guided visual imagery.
7. Set up a worry time. Many people worry at night. It is the first time in the day that they have had time to quiet their mind and many negative thoughts can pop into the mind. If you set up 10-15 minutes every day to worry about things and plan for future events, this may help quiet the mind at night because you will have a time set up for worry in the daytime so you do not have to burden yourself with worry at night.
8. Exercise. Individuals who are more fit sleep better. Do not exercise too late in the evening as this can charge the body up making it harder to go to sleep.
9. Avoid bright light at night. A dark environment is needed for best sleep.
10. Get plenty of bright light during the day. This may help regulate the circadian rhythm.
11. Avoid naps. It is common to want to take a nap in the mid afternoon. The core body temperature decreases, but this will generally throw off your nighttime sleep schedule. Another physiological mechanism that drives sleep in the afternoon is physiological shifts after lunch; blood flow is diverted from the brain to the stomach. Naps may be appropriate in those with shift work, those who are narcoleptic or the older adult. Naps should be no longer than 30 minutes.
12. Set an appropriate room temperature.
13. Assure appropriate room darkness. Have heavy curtains. Some people benefit from a sleep mask.
14. Set a quiet sleep environment. The use of earplugs may be helpful in some people. Others prefer to use fans or white noise machines.
15. Have a nice pillow. Properly placed pillows can promote comfort. Those with back pain may benefit form a large pillow under the knees.
16. Don't eat a heavy meal within three hours of bed. For many people this will aggravate heartburn or just cause generalized discomfort when trying to sleep.
17. Don't drink large quantities of fluid with in three hours of bed. Those who drink large quantities of liquid before bed are more likely to need to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.
18. Don't open your eyes when you wake up.
19. Don't look at the clock. When you look at the clock, you have to process what time it is. This will drive you out of a state of deep sleep into a state of less deep sleep.
20. Use night-lights in the bathroom. If you have to get up to go to the bathroom, truing on the bright overhead lights has the potential to wake you up even further. Night-lights will provide enough light to see, but not enough to blast you out of deep sleep cycle.
21. Avoid alcohol before bed. While this may help you initially get to sleep it is associated with early awakening and unrest sleep.
22. Avoid other stimulants before bed such as caffeine, nicotine and decongestants.
23. Sound machines can be purchased to aid with sleep.

    

    If all of the above strategies are implemented and there are still sleep issues the addition of cognitive behavioral therapy should be considered before medications are tried.

    Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works on the negative thoughts that interrupt sleep. This type of treatment works on poor sleep habits, irregular sleep schedules, poor sleep hygiene and misconceptions about sleep. CBT works on many of the lifestyle changes implemented above and is most effective when the patient suffers from primary insomnia.

    Some people need to attain professional help (with a therapist) for successful implementation of CBT. CBT is tremendously beneficial for sleep improvement. The National Institute of Health says that there is immediate improvement with CBT that can be maintained for up to two years. CBT is more effective than medications.

    What does it entail?

    1. Cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy is educating the patient about sleep. It works on faulty thinking and anxiety about insomnia and what will happen if you do not get enough sleep.
    2. Sleep hygiene. CBT will help teach the patient about many of the hygiene factors discussed above.
    3. Stimulus control. Therapy will educate the person about many things related to stimulus of sleep such as: using the bed for sleep and sex only, going to bed only when sleepy, don't nap during the day and if unable to sleep in 15-20 minutes get up.
    4. Relaxation therapy. Relaxation therapy is taught to help reduced tension. It typically involves certain exercises such as guided imagery, meditation or biofeedback.
    5. Sleep restriction therapy. This technique teaches the person not to spent too much time in bed.