Sleep!!

If you know you need to be up at 6 then set bedtime as 10. Start a ritual every night to prepare for bed and stick to it. If you like to read then read in bed to relax. Your bedroom should be a place for sleeping, not TV watching or computers. It takes a couple weeks but you can retrain your body to sleep.

Not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. If you feel well rested and have energy, you are probably getting enough for you.

Your body truly needs 8 full hours of sleep to recover every night. I have trouble staying asleep, but I am able to take naps during the day if I need them. That isn't as good as a good night's sleep. Try to get to bed early enough to get plenty of sleep. Great job getting up 4 days a wk. to workout. That shows amazing dedication and commitment.

Actually, sleep requirements vary substantially from person to person, 8 hours is just a guide. If the OP can wake up feeling refreshed, doesn't "need" caffeine or other stimulants to stay awake, doesn't "sleep in" on the weekends to "make up" for lost sleep during the week, and doesn't have trouble staying away during the day, then she is probably getting enough sleep for her body.

Edited to add: Apparently the OP doesn't meet these conditions, but in principal, this is still true.

I wake up early for a 5:30AM one-hour swimming practice on Mondays and Wednesdays since I start work at 6:45AM Monday through Thursday. Tuesday nights I have a martial fusion class until 8:30 so I'd have to be sleeping by 9 for Wednesday?? Does anyone use sleep aids?? I've removed all stimuli from the bedroom, the only thing that can keep me up is my siamese attention seeking baby lol. I've always had issues falling asleep as long as i can remember! I can't read to put me to sleep, I wouldn't put the book down!

Have you tried meditation? It can take a little practice, but it can help.

I have a baby and need to get up 3-4 times a night too. Does this mean slower weight loss?

"Sleep delays life, get up........"

I find listening to water or rain helps me to fall asleep, there are some great videos on youtube, search on there for "rain sounds 8 hours" - I don't listen for the full 8 hours but I find after about 15mins I start to fall asleep so turn it off but lots of people do have it on all night.

I've been suffering with depression for the past year and also have awful insomnia as a result of anxiety. Sleep has always been difficult for me but hopefully not for much longer. My lovely, generous, amazing parents have paid for a new bed for me. My boyfriend suffers from sleep apnoea so hopefully this new bed will help both of us. I ordered it yesterday and even splashed out on anti allergy bedding so from Friday I should be sleeping like a baby! Fingers crossed! x

It is recommended to get at least 7 hours of sleep, but no more than 9, when you're an adult. Naps are a great way to reinvigoate concentration, focus, and energy, so long as its not any longer that 40 minutes. After that you go into the next cycle of sleep, and waking up from that cycle is not good because you feel groggy and disoriented. A 20 minute power nap should do the trick.

I have days here and there where I can't sleep fitfully. Also my fiance and I are on totally different schedules since he works late and I work early. I have tried melatonin, and that seems to help a bit. Nice hot chamomile tea helps me as well, and lighting a lavender scented candle. If I really and utterly need to be knocked out, a muscle relaxant or nyquil does it. But you know I wouldn't recommend that as a go to method, as people have become addicted to muscle relaxants, or build up a tolerance and thus needing more and more of the drug. I use it sparingly.

Another thing that I've been told helps (which I haven't tried myself) is, after removing all stimulating things, to close your eyes and breathe deeply, mimicking sleep. Its been said to help go into actual sleep.