How can I fall asleep faster?

No electronics while trying to sleep or an hour before sleeping , heating pad. Rasberrytea(:

You might want to look into mental health problems that can cause insomnia (anxiety, depression), or sleeping disorders. Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep sounds like it could be a sleep phase issue-- your body thinks the middle of the night is morning. There's treatments that don't involve medication-- mostly they'll give you information about sleep hygiene if you go in. So here's that: http://www.sleepeducation.com/Hygiene.aspx Basically you just condition yourself into better, consistent patterns. Or, if you go in, they might give you light treatments, or something like that. Light is extremely important to keeping our circadian rhythms on track-- natural sunlight is best, so try to get more of that, in the daytime hours, and see if that does anything for you. That actually did wonders for me. Also there's melatonin, which isn't prescription, and you can get it in the vitamin aisle. Though I've heard conflicting opinions about that, but it is a treatment used by reputable doctors. I think the verdict is: moderately effective? Depends on whether melatonin is the thing you're missing-- it IS the thing that tells your body it's bedtime. And you should consider hormones as a cause-- menstruation or menopause can cause this kind of insomnia.

Not your mind - you. Just stop thinking about those things. I usually fall asleep in less than 2 minutes, but when there is something on my mind, it takes up to 2 hours. It similar to when you're freezing - just relax and you wont feel so cold. Try maybe to concentrate your thoughts on something fictitious. Maybe make up an event, and let your subconscious continue it in a dream. P.S. I also often put a movie or episode I have seen 1000 times, and the familiar plot gets me so bored I fall asleep very quickly.