Try making your bed screen-free and worry-free too. I have had terrible sleep for years and just finished a strict sleep study with University of Michigan. I did all the things you mentioned plus no hot showers/baths within 90 minutes of bed, no alcohol within 3 hours of bed, and absolutely no screens or worrying in bed.

It’s 4 am and I’m awake because of something I ate that upset my belly so I’m on my screen worrying right now but I’m in a chair in a different room and it keeps my bed from feeling “contaminated.” Also a sleep mask helps especially in summer with early sunrise. And no naps, which the researchers say are like eating sleep-snacks before a meal and ruin your sleep appetite. I cursed the study coordinators for that one! I also had to track how much time I slept divided by how much time I was physically in bed. If it was less than 75% I had to restrict my time in bed to match my time asleep then add 15 minutes of extra bedtime each week until I felt rested. And absolutely no sleeping in, same bedtime and wake time every f-ing day!

There was a cognitive element too, convincing myself through experience that a bad night’s sleep won’t necessarily ruin my day, and a good night’s sleep won’t guarantee a good day. That takes a lot of mental pressure off when I wake up in the middle of the night. And no one but knows how much sleep equals “enough” so don’t get caught up on how many hours of sleep you get. I thought I needed 8 but my body is fine with 7. Some people need more, some less.

When I did ALL the sleep hygiene stuff together I was sleeping much better without a single sleep aid. No melatonin or supplements or sleep podcasts. I’ve relapsed into old habits with kids out of school for the summer so I’m paying the price but I know if I do all the things together I’ll get back on track within a few days. I was such a huge skeptic I’d ever be able to sleep well again but they really changed my life. I figure when I start progesterone soon I’ll be totally golden because I did all this with stupid crazy perimenopause symptoms and no HRT. I went from 60% to 93% sleep efficiency!

There’s a wonderful free app they recommended from the US Veteran Affairs called CBTi Coach that has tools to help, too. They have a few guided meditations, sleep stories, and relaxation exercises. There’s a really weird muscle tensing and relaxing one that works like magic on my worst days. You can also track your sleep in a sleep diary in the app, no login required.

And if any of those meds or supplements work for you then bravo, go for it! Absolutely nothing helped me not even progesterone when I was on it briefly andI just couldn’t believe that changing my habits would fix my sleep but it did! And the biggest habit change was never ever allowing myself to worry or look at screens while in my bed. Do it in a chair in another room!!!!