Um well the advice I got/found coz i do night duty in the past, (and can do it in 6months into my gradprogram) is to make your room a lot cooler than you normally have it, we sleep better when its cold, hence why you have trouble sleeping when its summer
Make sure you dont have heaps of things on your mind. if you have heaps on your mind, do what i did and write down stuff before you go to bed and then you can worry about it the morning. Sleeping on things does help you concentrate etc etc.
Listen to a relaxation tape or do stuff like yoga or listen to calming music. dont do anything that will stimulate you, coz that will wake you up.
dont think about thefact that you cant get to sleep. I find that if i say ican stay awake (while lying there) i will fall asleep sooner...kinda reverse psycology lol. Or if that doesnt work or counting sheep, then get up, walk around for a bit, drink some milk or something warm, but dont eat.
Dont have a big meal 5hrs before hand, esp carbs, coz your body will be so busy digesting your food rather than restingyour body.
Dont drink alcohol heaps.
Um what else.....people think watching tv/dvdsand stuff like that will make them sleep but it does the opposite, i think coz the strong light or something. Try reading.
Apart from that just try and not get stressed out about not sleepingcoz thats just going to keep you up. Good luck.
Oh yeha please do not try and go on sleeping pills. They arent good for you, especially if you have to get up early for some reason coz you will be out of it for ages. And it doesnt give you proper sleep either. As you may be aware, Stillnox is causing major problems for people on it...just better to try and sort out the issues rather than fallinginto the trap that meds can help you.