Enforced sleep schedule: I’ve probably never slept better than in the military. As a downside passed out exactly at 10pm at late night social events. I also learned to nap in the most uncomfortable environments.
That last part would help me. I used to have horrific insomnia and sleeping issues, but I’ve since resolved most of the issue with ridiculous amounts of change to my environment (blacked out my room, got an AC, heater, humidifier, etc., and learned how to use them to always make the temperature and humidity perfect, got an extremely comfortable setup with my bed etc., clean regularly to remove as many potential allergens as possible, and a ton of other things). So now I can fall asleep...unless I’m at someone else’s house. Then I’m screwed.
Enforced sleep schedule: I’ve probably never slept better than in the military. As a downside passed out exactly at 10pm at late night social events. I also learned to nap in the most uncomfortable environments.
That last part would help me. I used to have horrific insomnia and sleeping issues, but I’ve since resolved most of the issue with ridiculous amounts of change to my environment (blacked out my room, got an AC, heater, humidifier, etc., and learned how to use them to always make the temperature and humidity perfect, got an extremely comfortable setup with my bed etc., clean regularly to remove as many potential allergens as possible, and a ton of other things). So now I can fall asleep...unless I’m at someone else’s house. Then I’m screwed.
Things that probably helped:
no caffeine or alcohol whatsoever
constant slight sleep deprivation
you couldn’t choose how you slept so there was no point in obsessing about it
you were often physically uncomfortable, so even having a chance to lay down made a big difference
if you wanted to sleep or nap, there usually was only a small time frame to try it (had to learn tricks to go to sleep quickly)
light physical activity most of the time, lots of time spent standing upright
sleeping was many times the most exciting you could do, it worked as escapism
had the same routines every evenings
1min after waking up had to be outside and running