I'm an insomniac so I've got the same problem buddy, unless I'm super short on sleep I can only catch 4-5 hours a night max naturally and that's only when I don't have to get up for something. I can't complain too much as I've got used to operating on very little sleep so it doesn't mess with my life all that much.
However, I do have a list of things that can help:
- First, no caffeine six+ hours before you're planning on going to bed, caffeine has a half life of 5-6 hours in most adults and since most people dose high with caffeine, they will usually have a significant amount of caffeine in their system as they go to bed. (If you drink 3 cups of coffee or 240mg caffeine at 8am, you will still have roughly 1.5 cups of coffee or 120mg caffeine keeping you awake at 8pm)
- Diphenhydramine (benadryl) - take ~40 minutes before bedtime. It's got a biological half-life of 8.5±3.2 hours so I don't recommend it unless you can sleep in as you will feel 'off' in the morning, especially if you take over 50mg. By far the easiest and cheapest OTC sleep aid, but use caution as it will potentiate other central nervous system depressants.
- THC - depends on the person whether this will help them get to sleep, but if you are going for it's sleep aid effects, smoke a low to medium amount for your tolerance.
- Alprazolam (and other benzodiazepines) - very good at helping you get to sleep, not recommended for people who sleepwalk though. Sublingual administration of a small dose (.5mg alprazolam, 5mg valium) and I will fall asleep within an hour lying in bed. It's important to note that these drugs can be habit forming, as well as the fact that medium to large doses will disrupt your sleep cycle instead of engaging it.
- Delta sleep inducing peptide - relatively expensive and hard to find, but generates natural-feeling sleepiness within 15min of administration. Great for resetting your circadian rhythms and not (in my experience) habit forming. No long term studies have been done on its effects in the human body, so long term usage is risky.
- Phenibut - not so great at helping you get to sleep, but there's nothing better at helping you stay asleep. An oral dose of .5g-1g (any more than that has not been studied enough) 4 hours before bed will eliminate any tossing, turning and waking up throughout the night without leaving you in a fog the next morning. Note that it can be habit forming, so it's best to use it for three days on, three days off. I only use it on the weekends to recover the sleep I lost throughout the week.
- Zolpidem (ambien) - I really do not like Ambien. I've had a prescription for it a few times and at least for me, it would wake me up right as the effects wore off. (~4 hours after administration) I also observed hallucinations and a relatively heavy body load after using it. It's supposed to selectively bind to a1 subunit of GABAa but it also seems to muck about in the histamine receptors, which would explain the hallucinations and body load. If it works for you, great, but it does not work well for me, but it will usually get you to sleep.
- Valerian root - Not strong enough for me on it's own, but a capsule of valerian root combined with THC is my anti-insomnia routine most days. Doesn't work the greatest, but also does not produce any noticeable side effects.