I recommend Dr. Matthew Walker's book Why We Sleep. 

Sleep is how your body takes out the trash, recharges, and rejuvenates itself. Sleep needs decline over a lifetime, but most grown ups need 8 hours per night. Teenagers need even more, and children, even more! Sleep is the base of the healing pyramid. It's even more important to me than your nutrition (though the two are certainly linked).

Tips for Healthy Sleep

  1. Stick to a sleep schedule - sleep and wake at the same time.
  2. Exercise is great, but not too late in the day. Try to exercise at least thirty minutes on most days but not later than two to three hours before your bedtime.
  3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine, especially late in the day.
  4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed.
  5. Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
  6. If possible, avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep.
  7. Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
  8. Relax before bed. Don’t overschedule your day so that no time is left for unwinding. A relaxing activity, such as reading or listening to music, should be part of your bedtime ritual.
  9. Take a hot bath before bed.
  10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom. (No screens! Read a real book, or use blue light settings – "night light" – on your devices after 5 pm). Do NOT keep a TV in your bedroom!
  11. Have the right sunlight exposure. Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least thirty minutes each day. If possible, wake up with the sun or use very bright lights in the morning, like a SAD lamp — see how to use a SAD lamp.

RISKS OF SLEEPING PILLS

Pills vs. Therapy

Should You Take Two of These Before Bed?

  • No past or current sleeping medications on the legal (or illegal) market induce natural sleep. Don’t get me wrong—no one would claim that you are awake after taking prescription sleeping pills. But to suggest that you are experiencing natural sleep would be an equally false assertion.
  • Those taking sleeping pills were 4.6 times more likely to die over this short two-and-a-half-year period than those who were not using sleeping pills. Kripke further discovered that the risk of death scaled with the frequency of use. Those individuals classified as heavy users, defined as taking more than 132 pills per year, were 5.3 times more likely to die over the study period than matched control participants who were not using sleeping pills.
  • More alarming was the mortality risk for people who only dabbled in sleeping pill use. Even very occasional users—those defined as taking just eighteen pills per year—were still 3.6 times more likely to die at some point across the assessment window than non-users.