I usually fall asleep very quickly. Yes, having some kind of anxiety about the next day or such can keep me up and sometimes there’s a night where I just don’t seem to fall asleep instantly by myself.

Rule number one: Keep your bed the place you sleep in. Don’t do anything else in it. You can’t fall asleep because of anxiety? Get up, go somewhere else, try to deal with it/calm down and then get back to sleep.

If you don’t know why you can’t fall asleep, get up, try to wind down a bit. Maybe drink a little bit of water, go to the toilet, whatever then come back and try again. Try to keep the lights off or as dimmed as possible in that time.

Sometimes if that doesn’t help, you can use some relaxation techniques to help. My go to: Lay down, find a comfy spot. The easiest: Focus on you I this moment. How does it feel in your bed? Focus on the warm fluffy place you’re in. “Feel” how you sink in more and more into your pillow and mattress with every breath. Usually that’s enough to get me to sleep. If you can’t fall asleep doing this, go a bit further. Imagine you’re in a meadow/on a beach/wherever in nature. Feel the imaginary sun on your skin. The sand/gras/moss/… Under your bare feet. Breathe the fresh air. Focus on your imaginary sensations and observe them.

Those imaginations can be hard if you’re not used to them. It’s OK if you’re not focused on them in the beginning and that some random ideas and thoughts cross your mind and keep breaking the illusion. Find a way to deal with them. Accept that it has happened and move on. My preferred way to “block them”: imagine a red heavy curtain falling like in a theater completely blocking your view of those thoughts/images. Acknowledge that you identified and consciously ignored them, “turn around” and return your focus to your imagination.