A lot of the replies here are trying to give you a solution that forces you to sleep. The real problem is your compulsive mind, and you can't focus on anything except the thoughts that come one after the other. The solution to this problem, and thus your sleep problem, is meditation and mindfulness. Here is a page that has everything you ever wanted to know about these two topics...what your mind is doing, and how to meditate and be mindful. If you scroll to the very bottom left you will find four posts that perfectly describe what you are going through, and give you basic instructions (you don't need the guide unless you want it - those four posts tell you everything). It will change your life.
Most important of all - learn meditation to control your mind. 46 is not too late to start. =) Diet + exercise are important as many has already suggest but you may have been eating well and workout correctly. And finally, if you are really concerned, change the market you trade to match your personal need. It is a huge undertaking because you may not be able to adapt to a different market.
You may want to try a hypnosis MP3 http://www.hypnosisconcepts.com/insomnia/ Seinfeld Episode: "The Contest"
Lots of great replies. I appreciate it. It's interesting that green tea was brought up so much. The other day I was at walmart getting coffee beans, and then I picked up some decaf green tea to drink throughout the day after a few cups of coffee. I love green tea, but I have never really considered it as a coffee substitute. I appreciate the suggestions to work out, but I'm already an addict. I eat very healthy and I do crossfit workouts. 2 years ago, I looked like I was in decent but not great shape, but I couldn't do a pullup. Now i am 30 pounds lighter, can do 10 pullups and am sporting a 4 pack. (That stupid 6 pack is so elusive). At 46, I love using myself as an example when people say they are too old to workout and lose weight. But I like Nodoji's suggestion to do 2 workouts a day. I think I'm ready for it, and it seems like a logical step to the next level. I'm also already automated. I do some manual trading throughout the day, but there is no way I could trade the early part of the day manually. Too many trades, and it is very systematic. My trading gets more and more discretionary as the day goes on. (No OPG's, btw) I also appreciate the suggestions for "The Work", entrainment, meditation, etc. Working out is sort of my meditation, but I know what is being suggested is completely different, and i will look further into these. Thank you. But one of the first replies really sticks with me. I need to stop treating this like a bad thing, and let the creativity flow. I guess what I'm really wresting with is the possibility of losing that creative edge, which only seems to present itself at night, in trade for the benefit of being exhausted when I go to bed and being able to sleep right away. But I'm under the impression some of the suggestions here will help with that. Thanks again, all.
Childs Play, lie down in your bed and wait for pain. Focus all 100% of your mental attention on the pain. I really believe this is the basis of "Faith Healing." Try it, and tell me if you like it. It has nothing to do with trying to make the pain go away. Just concentrate on it, and give the pain 100% of your mental energy. Either one of two things will happen 1. The pain will go away or 2. You will finally fall asleep.
Uh, no. Not that one. This one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLTg2nHZEHQ I'm keeping my Rubik's cube.
My take on it. I could either read all the posts or have time to post. I choose this way so if what I say has already been suggested, consider this benign repetition. First, don't fight the sleep hours. Accept it now and don't fret mentally about it, until you can change the underlying causes you are much better off accepting the hours yours body/mind wants to be awake and sleep. Pair down your trading to a comfortable zone while this is happening. Pairing down trading is important no matter what the location of the source of this: external to you or internal. In this way you can use it as a lesson to adapt, which is a crucial skill in trading really well. Second, clean up your drinking water distilled for a while. Don't drink or eat things with bromine, fluoride and chlorine. Eliminate caffeine or any diet beverage. Stop drinking your calories and eat a lot of whole fresh foods that you like. Consider juicing them for a while until your taste bud acclimate to this type of food. Purchase distilled water and/or a water distiller. Increase your iodine supplementation during the day, and read up on this it can be tricky to do it correctly.. These aformentioned suggestions will help clean up your pineal gland, which will enable you to being to get sleepy after sunset. The pineal secretes melatonin, which is the chemical that helps you sleep deeply. Remember those vivid dreams you had when you were a kid, and maybe you barely have them anymore, this is one reason why. Sleep is restorative so get some whenever you can. But aligning the day/night cycle more in line with day/light hours is even better. Watch the sunsets if you can, the type of light at the end of the day is a signal for this gland to work better as well. Learn to focus only a few things each day. If it's trading you want to get better at, then make that your priority along with improving your health. Stop watching television if you watch it frequently. You shouldn't need TV to trade well, but if you do make it your only tv time, and consider a plan to eradicate it from your trading system in time. Find a way to get any repetitive thoughts you might be having down on paper, in a system you can trust to review enough so that you handle them, but get them off of your mind. The brain is a great creator and performer but a worse container. Use your mental energy for the balance pursuit of things that energize you, and get the stuff off of your mind that sucks up energy needlessly. So basically go with what is happening, make sure your trading is always in the comfort zone (especially now), make a plan to improve your health in meaningful ways, and employ methods that help you focus on mastering one or two areas each day. Keep me posted if you tried any of these things and found them useful. Good luck in solving your problem.