Make it as nonpunishing as possible. The worst thing that an insomniac can do is to lie in bed tossing and turning. Pass your time reading in bed or watching television, rather than lying in bed frustrated. This goes for everyone. If you are lying in bed, even if you are not sleeping, your body will still get the same amout of recovery as if you had slept. Although your brain doesn't get any recovery, you'll still be better off than if you sped the time watching the clock, tossing and turning. Hide the clock; put it out of view. You'll only watch it getting later and later and get more and more tense. 

Don't nap. Napping tands to make matter worse for the chronic insomniac. The concept is similar to the reason you shouldn't stay in bed late the morning after you had trouble sleeping: you'll have more trouble getting to sleep the next night, thereby compounding your insomnia. Its' best to let yourself get good and sleepy so that it will be easier to get to sleep the next night. 

Change you interpretation of the problem. Several misconceptions about sleep can make people overly concerned about their insomnia and can actually keep them awake. One example is when people wake up out of what seems like a deep sleep and feel wide awake. They think that because they feel so alert that they will never be able to get back to sleep. However, this is not the case. What happens is that if insomnia wakes you from your REM stage [REM stands for Rapid Eye Movements, the stage of sleep in which you dream], you will be very alert. However, all you have to di is wait for 30 minutes and you will easily fall back to sleep. The key is to understand that your awakening is natural and that you just have to wait it out. Another instance of mistaken perception is that when prople wake, they often have the feeling that they were never asleep at all. But most people sleep much longer than they think. 

Try earplugs. Sometimes, insomnia is caused by being awakened repeatedly by loud noises. Often, the sleeper is not aware of what awakened him or her. The classic case is a person who lives near a airport. A doctor suggest minimizing ambient noise as much as possible and failing that investing in a good pair of earplugs.
 
 
 
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      The  word  of   the  day is that adults need eight hours   of   sleep   per  night.  But  is that  the  case for everyone? 
      Sleep researchers answer with resounding "no." 
      Peter Hauri, Ph.D., in the book    No   More   Sleepless Nights,    says     that    while different   individuals   have very   different   sleep  needs, the         amount        remains amazingly constant for each person.  He tells the story of     a   70-year-old   nurse   who slept  only  on e  hour   each night, took no  naps  during   the  day  and  said  that  she   never  felt  tired.  In fact, she said  she  didn't  understand why other people  wasted so much time in  bed.  She  had averaged  the  same amount    of   sleep   each  night  since she was a child.  
      Other people may need 9, 10 or even 11 hours of sleep per    night.    There    is    no "norm." 
      Studies demonstrate that people  perform  just as well cognitively if they are  sleep deprived.  What  happens  is that      people       start      to demonstrate       intellectual problems   when   they    are worried   about   how   little they  sleep.  If you think you will  be  impaired,  you  will be.  If    you    sleep    for   90 minutes and when you wake up,   you are  told   that  you have  slept  for  eight  hours, you  will  feel  great.  But  if you  sleep  for  eight   hours  and told that you have slept only for 45 minutes, you will feel exhausted.