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  You've flopped into every position possible, but you're still watching the hours tick by: 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m, and still no sleep. Insomnia is more than a nuisance. It's stressful and can lead to serious health problems if it persists. A few changes in lifestyle, however, usually can be enough to beat it and get back to regular, full-night sleep.
  
  

Find Your Rhythm

• Establish a bedtime and stick to it. Add in a regular relaxation routine before that bedtime if it helps: music, a warm bath or whatever makes you feel calm. Set a regular wake-up time, too. Sleeping in an hour or two on the weekends might seem tempting, but this will disrupt your sleep cycle and make it harder to sleep at night.
  
  

Hit the Gym

• Regular exercise, aerobic exercise in particular, promotes healthy sleeping habits. The adage to avoid exercise three hours before sleeping is somewhat exaggerated. While it can disturb sleep for some people, several studies, including one by the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina, indicate exercise before bed does not keep most people awake.
  
  

Drink Smart

• Have some caffeine-free tea. Avoid caffeine for at least eight hours before bedtime, as it can take that long for it to leave the body. Also pass on alcoholic beverages. While alcohol might seem to help you fall asleep, it will disrupt your sleeping patterns.
  
  

Perfect Your Bedroom

• Make your bedroom as dark and quiet as possible. Buy opaque curtains if too much light seeps in at night. Make sure the temperature is comfortable. Invest in earplugs or a white-noise generator if you live in a rowdy neighborhood.
  
  

No Cookies in Bed

• Make your bed sacred: for sleeping and sex only. Don't read, eat, watch television or do any other non-sexual stimulating activity while you are in bed. This will help mentally train you to associate getting in bed with immediate sleep.
  
  

Skip the Late-Night Snack

• Heavy meals might make you feel tired, but you're better off with a light meal at least two hours before sleeping. Particularly avoid spicy foods that might keep you up with heartburn. Drinking before bed might leave you spending more time in the bathroom than the bedroom. If hunger pangs are keeping you up, opt for a banana. The potassium will help you sleep.
  
  

Avoid Sleep Stress

• If you find yourself tossing and turning after 20 minutes or so, get up, go into another room and do something that is not stimulating. Listen to music, or read a book, though make sure it's something that won't engross you all night. Don't turn on the television. The light patterns are stimulating even if the show on TV is not. When you start to feel tired, go back to bed and try again.
  
  

Tough it Out

• Even if you're exhausted during the day, resist the urge to take a long nap. These disrupt your sleeping cycle. If you need daytime sleep, limit yourself to short "power naps" of 30-minutes maximum.
  
  

Butt Out

• Your smoking habit might be disrupting your sleep, as if you needed another reason to quit. Nicotine is a stimulant, which keeps you awake. It also is addictive, so it can cause small withdrawal episodes at night to further disrupt sleep.
  
  

Call the Professionals

• If nothing seems to work, visit a doctor or sleep clinic. She might prescribe medication to help you sleep, or might be able to detect a condition such as sleep apnea that unknowingly is keeping you up.