Your sleeping habits and conditions are referred to as sleep hygiene.
You should focus on your habits first when addressing your sleep problems.
Basically, keep track of your behavior as well as your environment before you go to bed to see if changing any of them will help you sleep better.
Here are some effective sleep hygiene habits to help you sleep:

• Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning; stick to this schedule even on weekends and when going on vacation.
  
• Don't read, work or watch television in bed; you want your bed to be the place where you sleep, not where you work or watch tv.
  
• Avoid naps, especially late in the day.
  
• Exercise before dinner; don't exercise too close to bed time as this may keep you up.
  
• Take a hot bath before bed; increasing your body's temperature will make you sleepy and will allow you to fall asleep sooner.
  
• Read, meditate or do some other relaxing activity for the last 30 minutes before you go to bed.
  The more relaxed you are, the easier you will fall asleep.
  
• Keep your bedroom cool and well ventilated.
  
• Eat dinner 4-5 hours before bedtime; avoid liquids too close to bedtime.
  
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and other stimulants right before bed.
  
• If you have difficulty falling asleep you should get up and go into another room; read or do some other activity until you feel like you are able to sleep, then you can go back to your bedroom.
  
• Go to another bedroom or the couch if your sleeping partner is snoring or otherwise bothering you.
  Hopefully you won't need to do this every night, just the nights where you are having difficulty sleeping.
  
• Don't watch the clock.
  Knowing how long you have been awake or how close until the alarm goes off will only make you anxious, thus making sleep even more elusive.
  

Changing one or more of your night-time habits or environment could make all the difference in whether you sleep or not.
This should be your first defense against insomnia and will hopefully avoid the need for medicine to help you sleep.