Sleep could be looked at as a skill, or set of skills. First, here is an outline of what to do just before lights out if you want to sleep:

1. Try to develop a routine in which "bed" means (to your unconscious) "relaxation," as opposed to, say, "algebra homework," or "talking on the phone to best friend about personal issues." If you have work to do, always try to do it in another room.

2. Go to bed at the same time every night, and get up the same time every morning. A regular schedule will help "train" your mind as to when it is time to rest and sleep, and when it is time to be active and deal with goals and problems.

3. For the same reason, as much as possible, avoid extensive, restful napping during the day time. Extensive naps cut into your need for sleep at night.

4. Get a clock that has a CD player, and then play relaxing music at bedtime.

6. Drink something soothing when you go to bed, such as cocoa.

7. Go to bed a little earlier than necessary to get your full sleep, say, 15 or 30
minutes early. Use that time to sip cocoa, listen to relaxing music, and
read something calming and uplifting, like philosophy, poetry, literature, or perhaps even light comedy.

8. Teach yourself to have positive thoughts as you drift off to sleep. Immerse
yourself in a happy world of some kind - a vacation you hope to have someday, your favorite memories of childhood, your dream home, and so on.

9. If your sleep is disrupted by anxiety-provoking, or depression-producing
thoughts, teach yourself to just let them go, like a boat floating away down a river.
Don't allow unconscious troubles to arise and "hook" you - just shift back to your
positive dreamscape until that shift to the positive and the calming becomes
automatic.

10. Give yourself a time limit on troubled "tosses and turns" - say, 4 times. At the 5th, stop, turn on the light, and write down whatever it was that is bothering you. In the morning, you likely will be amazed at how trivial or irrelevant that disruptive thought was. This trick teaches your mind to not let precious sleep be disrupted by concerns you can do nothing about in the middle of the night anyway!

11. When it's wake-up time, make a point of doing something right away that is fun, or interesting, or makes you feel good - like juice, a breakfast bar, and inspiring music.

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