How can I fall asleep quickly?

Melatonin?

Another MeFite's suggestion in one of those previous threads works wonders for me: Count backwards from 2365. (No, I don't know why that MeFite picked that number, but I do it.)

Exercise. Read in bed (boring stuff). Hot milk. Get into a routine (hot shower, ten minutes reading, hot milk - lights out). Are you thinking too much to sleep or just not tired? My husband only needs 4-5 hours a night, he cannot sleep 8 hours regularly. Oh, avoid coffee after midday and no alcohol. (These things worked for me.)

I use a white noise CD from http://www.purewhitenoise.com/ place. The http://www.purewhitenoise.com/whitenoisecd.html#ac is my favorite. It brings me back to all those summer vacation nights in hotels, spent falling asleep to the steady hum of the AC on full-blast. It has a slow fade in and fade out, so on many nights, I don't even hear it stop (it's one full hour in length.)

You sound almost exactly like the way I used to be - an hour or more of tossing and/or turning, listening to music... still tired, but still not asleep I n'th the wonder whether caffeine is the culprit here. While the only beverage I love more than Pepsi is coffee (okay, or chai!), I found that if I set myself to no caffeine after 6 PM, I was ready to conk out quickly by midnight. Oh, and only ONE person mentioned orgasm? I'm surprised - it works like a charm and hells, what could be more fun *and* productive?

Still looking for a pair of phones that are specifically designed for falling asleep while wearing them. http://www.google.com/search?q=pillow+speaker&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official I have one and it works great.

When I can't fall asleep, I count backwards from 100. Every time I mix up numbers I have to start over. (100...99...98...96...oh crap...100...99...you get the idea) If I can count down to 40 or 50 without messing up, I'll try something else. Usually it will put me to sleep within 5 minutes. When I forget to try this trick, I can take an hour or two or three to fall asleep.

That and the caffeine thing mentioned here. I've learned my cutoff for tea or colas is about 5pm. My first thought on reading this was also that you were getting too much caffiene. If you're a caffiene drinker, you need to learn when is too late to drink it and it will keep you up. For me, I have found through experience that 10pm is about as late as I can drink coke, otherwise it keeps me up (I usually go to bed around 11:30pm - midnight). If you are not drinking caffiene, then I agree with the other posters that you need to work out if it might be because your mind is still working on issues when you go to bed. If this is the case, then I'd second either using a notebook to write it ALL down before you go to bed or meditation (although I've never meditated, I can see the benefit).

If you read in bed, get a little led headlamp. I get sleepier a lot faster with the lights out, and don't have to wake up to turn them off.