To pile on,

1. Ear plugs. The soft squishy foam kind. They're much, much better at providing acoustic privacy than noise-cancelling headphones. Use both, earplugs and headphones if you want, but I find that I can't sleep well with headphones on because of the mechanical interference of the hoop against whatever my head rests. Note that noise-cancelling ear buds aren't going to be anywhere near ear plugs. Use ear plugs. Planes are actually quite noisy, even without the passengers.

2. Eye shades. A good set of eye shades that don't leak light (test them out first!) make a huge difference.

3. Since your flight is short, eat beforehand and refuse all service. Immediately go into sleep mode. You won't be able to sleep very well at first due to cabin noise, but you'll get there. Refuse the breakfast. Sleep is your main goal on such a short flight.

4. Window seat. You won't be jostled as much by aisle traffic, and can lean against the wall. Use the bathroom right before you board.

5. For me, juidicious use of a *small* amount of alcohol immediately pre-flight, perhaps two drinks at most. The various other drugs being suggested have too long an effect to be useful on a short flight like yours. Ambien has some real horror stories about people being apparently conscious, uninhibited, and sleep walking, but having no memory afterward. Do not mix alcohol and other sleep drugs.

6. Start shifting your sleep-wake cycle the few nights before your departure. That's hard to do, but worth it. I can usually manage about 30 minutes a day. Use an alarm to force yourself to get up.

7. Understand that with a scheduled 6 hour flight, you're likely to get maybe 4 hours of sleep, in a poor environment for sleeping. Plan the next day accordingly.

8. Personally, I find neck pillows to be a waste and make things worse than having nothing. A small pillow, perhaps 1/4 normal size, can be useful, though.

9. Wear clothing and bring a jacket that would allow you to get comfortable either in a warm cabin (looking at you, LH!) by removing layers, or a cold cabin by adding them.