I've had the same issue but most of the time it is a 'self inflicted wound' as the result of staying up too late. Unfortunately the morning wake up time stays right where it is.

On nights where I have trouble falling asleep I find that it helps to either figure out what's on my mind by writing it down(sometimes a simple task like making a to do list makes all of those random little things go away!), or by working on something somewhat taxing like logic problems until my brain is completely exhausted.

I also find that, as cliche as it might sound, that a warm glass of milk about 1/2 an hour before bed really does the trick.

Anybody have any other unique or interesting solutions to share?

I discovered a device called Lite Book (litebook.com). Use of the special lamp helps regulate sleep inducing melatonin. The light emitted is confined to certain wavelength of natural sunlight. The recommended use of 30 minutes in the AM supports daytime awakeness and a regular nght time sleep pattern. Also TV screens and incandescent lamps emit wavelengths that damage sleep promoting melatonin. Use of dark glasses with filtering lens beginning about 1-2 hours before bedtime help reduce the undesirable wavelengths from these sources.

capnodium said:

I discovered a device called Lite Book (litebook.com). Use of the special lamp helps regulate sleep inducing melatonin. The light emitted is confined to certain wavelength of natural sunlight. The recommended use of 30 minutes in the AM supports daytime awakeness and a regular nght time sleep pattern. Also TV screens and incandescent lamps emit wavelengths that damage sleep promoting melatonin. Use of dark glasses with filtering lens beginning about 1-2 hours before bedtime help reduce the undesirable wavelengths from these sources.

@capnodium brings up a good point, namely that the body reacts to changes in light levels; the brighter the light, the more your body says "hey, stay up" (or conversely, "hey go to bed!")!  There have even been a few recent studies about the color of the light--e.g. blue light vs yellow light--and how a difference in color can send different messages to your brain and body.  Personally, I'm a big fan of dim light in my bedroom; the brightest bulb I have in a lamp is 25 Watts and I'm no fan of overhead lights after it's dark out.  It makes it much easier to wind down and get into bed, not to mention keep me from staying up too late and then sleeping in the next morning.

Even if you're a night owl, you can still get good quality, healthy sleep.  As mentioned in these posts, bright lights, controlling your mind and writing down your thoughts before bed are all important.  Here are a few other things that you may want to take a look at:

1.  Ensure adequate break time before bed – Give yourself at
least an hour to come down after watching T.V or working on the computer.

2.  Regulate your bedroom temperature – Ideally, you
want your bedroom between
12 and 24 degrees Celsius (54-75 degrees Fahrenheit).

3.  Stop the noise  - Get rid of unnecessary distractions
before you go to bed.  Try to block
out sounds from the street and the rest of the house.

4.  Make
your bedroom more sleep-friendly  - Do whatever it takes to make your bedroom more comfortable
- whether
that’s using air conditioning, extra blankets or pillows, a heated blanket, heated
lavender stuffed pets, blinds, curtains or earplugs, you need to find the ideal combination
for yourself.

5.  Your bed must be comfortable - Make sure your
bed, blankets and pillow are comfy. 

6.  Your bed is for Sleeping only (well,
almost only) – Don’t watch T.V or play on the computer in (or before) bed.  Your mind needs to associate your
bedroom with sleeping and nothing else – other than sex.

7.  Keep pets out of the bedroom at night – As much as you love your dog, letting him sleep with you may be causing
more harm than you know. 

If you're going to read before bed, or get up and read because you can't sleep, you'll want to read something that doesn't require much brainpower.  Something mindless like poetry usually works well.

Hope you find ZZZ promised land.

I'm a night owl and a Zeo user.  What I use to help normalize my sleep pattern is bright blue light in the morning for 30 minutes, using a Feel Bright Light (http://www.feelbrightlight.com), which is a visor with a 8,000 or 10,000 lux light attached to the visor.  This is much more convenient for me than a light box, because I can immediately put on the visor upon awakening, and go about my morning routine. 

At night I've been experimenting with wearing amber (blue light blocking) sunglasses for the last hour or so before bedtime.  I know that there are some studies that show that blue light in the morning and blue-light deprivation in the evening can help us night owls.  We'll see. Even if it is not a dramatic effect, a nudge in the right direction is good.