Audio books have been a wonderful tool for fixing my sleep. The drone of an audio book keeps one’s mind distracted so it doesn’t slide over to racing through sleep killing thoughts about todo lists or past sins. It’s the same effect that makes you yawn in lectures, when before you didn’t even think you were tired.
To fix the circadian rhythm I think it’s key to spend nine hours every night lying down in a pitch black room, even if you can’t sleep anywhere near that long at first. You’ll ruin the process of adjustment if you get up in the night and turn on a light or use a TV/computer. It can take a couple weeks to fix things so that you’re consistently getting a solid eight. Ordinarily I’d find it impossible to lie there awake in the dark and try to count sheep, or whatever, rather than get up and read. But lying in the dark for a few hours listening to a storyteller is not so bad. Often when I was sure I wouln’t get any more sleep, I find myself in a half or quarter sleep daze for a couple hours, which I am sure is still restorative.
I set my cheapo sandisk portable mp3 player to 90 minute auto shut off. I usually conk out before it stops.
I’ve found the cheapest way to get audio books, without pirating or dealing with the hassle of the library, is to buy them as CDs on ebay, rip them to mp3, and then resell them on ebay.