The "trick" is to set up a hard rule. If you get up at 6.30 in the morning, be in bed at 10p no matter what so that you will fall asleep by 10.30p-11p at the very latest (8h of sleep).
Also, no laptop/phone/tablet/etc. in the bedroom - just books/magazines. Reading before bed is the best way to slowly move towards sleep and not keep yourself up for hours the way that looking at a screen does.
Yes, sometimes you feel like you can work for an extra couple hours, etc. - but at the end of the day it's a choice you have to make. If you genuinely care about being healthy, put {sleep | healthy food | exercise } before everything else. The first few weeks might be a bit rough, but the rest will follow.
Making hard rules like these seems to me like the only sensible solution. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that expecting to run a successful early-stage business and being a good parent to two young childen is impossible unless you lower your requirements on one or both fronts. If you don't lower the requirements voluntarily, nature will do it for you. (There are rare examples of people who have extraordinary endurance, but they are by definition extraordinary).
Burnout is not fun and it can put your out of business for months, or even years if you have a bad case. (In my case, it was a year and a half of zero productive work). One of my relatives, after a particularly rough Ph.D, claimed that she will never be able to perform at the same level again. It's okay to be ambitious, but I think too many young and ambitious people let their ambition get the best of them. Learning your limits by crashing into them at full speed is not advisable.
I don't mean to sound negative or dismissive, but I've experienced this myself and seen too many cases first-hand not to care. The Silicon Valley startup culture is in many places outright destructive when it comes to this aspect of life.
More constructively: Setting strict deadlines and schedules that you will maintain unless the sky is falling (change the definition to "no matter what" if the sky is "constantly" falling), balancing your time so you have enough sleep and enough time to yourself is a safe way to ensure that you are working sustainably. This will lower your productivity, though. At least make your sacrifices with both eyes open.
Just to add my own personal anecdote, melatonin supplements did not work for me. This is not to say it won't for others, but it isn't magic for everyone.
I use melatonin supplements on a fairly regular basis over the past year to regulate my sleep cycle, as recommended by my doctor to counteract Ritalin-induced insomnia. Studies have shown no reduction in efficacy after three months of use, according to Wikipedia[1]. If no change could be detected by that point, then there's a good chance that it's fine for extended use. From my own experience, this has held true.
> My understanding is that taking it consistently isn't a good idea.
All the research I've read says that it makes absolutely no difference. You never develop an immunity to it and it doesn't inhibit natural production. No research (that I'm aware of) has yet to find a downside, even at regularly taken large doses.
Do you have a source? I haven't seen anything that suggests it isn't unhealthy. It take it almost daily, have done so for over six months, and have never slept better or had as much energy. It's also given me the energy to get in better physical shape.
I don't have sources that outline the issues on why taking it for a long time is bad. I have talked to a pharmacist and other articles stating that it's a temporary fix.
Here's another article mentioning that it should be taken for 3 months at most:
The three months is because there have been studies showing it is safe for that long. But afaik there have been no studies suggesting that it would not be safe to take it for longer.
Also, no laptop/phone/tablet/etc. in the bedroom - just books/magazines. Reading before bed is the best way to slowly move towards sleep and not keep yourself up for hours the way that looking at a screen does.
Yes, sometimes you feel like you can work for an extra couple hours, etc. - but at the end of the day it's a choice you have to make. If you genuinely care about being healthy, put {sleep | healthy food | exercise } before everything else. The first few weeks might be a bit rough, but the rest will follow.