things that seem to help my sleep are

• physical activity during the day
• sun exposure (>30 minutes)
• keeping my room dark when i’m going to sleep (blackout curtains are good for this)
• taking a shower before bed
• avoiding screens or at least using a blue light filter

I used to type these kinds of questions into google, but it’s becoming completely unusable due to all the LLM content farming. At leasat I know most of you are real

A few things help me

• physical exercise
• phone screens banned
• a caffiene free herbal tea
• calming noises either real or from phone
• reading a physical book or kindle using a tablelamp with no backlight.
• reading a single page of theory (puts me to sleep honestly)
• consistent bed time and wake time
• some basic meditation or breathing exercises can go a long way if you’re feeling stressed

I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping but since I’ve done some of the above i can generally fall asleep consistently at 11pm

• Lights: Switching to light sources/bulbs with lower brightness/warmer light temperature (lower Kelvin/K-value) 3 hours before bed. (Light affects our sleep-wake cycle, aka the circadian rhythm. Our brain processes bright light as “the sun is still up so it’s not time to sleep yet”)
• Screens: Gradually dimming electronic screens until bedtime (Computer: using F.lux and lowering the brightness gradually in the graphics card’s control panel. Phone: with a built-in Night/Dark Mode option that you can schedule or by using an app like Twilight). // Don’t take your devices to the bedroom, or keep them far away from the bed and set them on silent/shut them off.
• Try not to sleep for more than 8 hours so you’ll need the sleep the next night.
• Sleeping in a closed and completely dark room (including covering LED lights on electronics, or using a face mask) with something that makes a white noise (fan/air purifier/etc.)
• Food: Having a light meal 3-3.5 hours before bed and light snacks 1.5-2 hours before bed, to not put the body into overdrive digesting a heavy meal or cause heartburn/indigestion, and also to not go to sleep hungry and get distracted by that.
• If you sleep on your stomach with your head to the side, you can use a thin and narrow side pillow (but firm) along your torso to support your shoulder on the side that your head is pointing to. (you can also use a thin pillow for your head to not strain your neck/spine - there are ones made for kids if needed)

When I started program lifting about a decade ago, one benefit I never really was told about that definitely happened is I fell asleep so much easier. Even though I usually lift mid day, days where I lift or get in some cardio I fall asleep and stay asleep so much better. It can be worth getting in some more physical activity for a lot of reasons, but sleep is one of them too.