Taking melatonin has been mentioned several times in different threads here, and I just wanted to add my experience...
I find that taking the minimal amount make a big difference here, and it's about 3 micro-grams (not milli-grams) for me. The trick is to get some liquid melatonin drops. There is a brand that has 3 milligrams per 30 drops as a recommended dosage, so I just take 3 or so drops and let them dissolve on my tongue. Using liquid drops this way, there is less of a sleep hangover, and It workes faster that way, too.
I think I read about 3 micrograms as more appropriate for most people on lesswrong, but it might have been somewhere else. It's working really well for me, with frequent breaks from it, for five or more years.
You emphasized the word "minimal" but it cannot be emphasized enough. I think melatonin is one of those things that quickly backfires if you take too much.
I can confirm that anecdotally, taking those big 10mg pills did help me get to sleep, but also gave me some of the most fucked up dreams I've ever had the mispleasure of experiencing.
As pointed out above me, 250-300 micrograms is what you likely meant. You might have to hunt for such low doses. I split a 1 mg tab in quarters. Repeated studies have shown that there is not an increase in efficacy, but there is an increase in adverse effects when doses are higher. See https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/07/10/melatonin-much-more-th...
Not the same guy but, when I took them it was as I was laying down to try to sleep, so maybe 10 minutes before I was actually asleep.
In my experience you don't want to take them and not try to go to sleep right afterwards or you can ruin the effect, and trying to take more trying to sleep afterwards merely results in addiction and needing it to sleep at all.
I can also confirm you want a very low dosage. Higher dosages didn't help at all, just merely built tolerance to it. The ones I got were 3-5mg and I broke them up into tiny little pieces and took partial mgs at most. You want to nudge yourself towards sleep with it, not try to drug yourself with it.
I find that taking the minimal amount make a big difference here, and it's about 3 micro-grams (not milli-grams) for me. The trick is to get some liquid melatonin drops. There is a brand that has 3 milligrams per 30 drops as a recommended dosage, so I just take 3 or so drops and let them dissolve on my tongue. Using liquid drops this way, there is less of a sleep hangover, and It workes faster that way, too.
I think I read about 3 micrograms as more appropriate for most people on lesswrong, but it might have been somewhere else. It's working really well for me, with frequent breaks from it, for five or more years.