You could get a better night’s sleep with this game-changing hack.
The struggle of tumbling into bed after an exhausting day only to be kept wide awake by an overactive mind is all too familiar for many.
Our brains never seem to tire, whether overanalyzing the day’s events, fretting over tomorrow’s tasks, or dredging up conversations from the past.
But now, a doctor promises there’s a sleep technique that can quiet those persistent thoughts, ease stress before sleeping, and ensure you’re snoozing within five minutes.
Known as cognitive shuffling, the method was revealed in a TikTok video by Joel Chesters. He claimed his Oxford University professor taught him this trick, which then caught the attention of Doctor Karan Rajan who discussed it in his own video.
Dr Rajan stated: “If you’re struggling to fall asleep, this is the biological version of holding down the power button. When you’re in bed, it’s easy to get repetitive, disruptive thought patterns.
“This can trigger a stress response, which keeps you awake. The more you’re awake, the more unwanted thought patterns you get, meaning less sleep.
“Cognitive shuffling can break this cycle of overthinking by taking away your active cognitive effort. It’s the human brain version of picking shuffle on your mind playlist versus having to manually change a song every time. Less stress.”
To begin the exercise, simply choose a random word – Dr Raj opted for “bedtime”, but any word will do. Then, for each letter of the chosen word, come up with as many other words starting with that letter as possible before moving on to the next one.
After demonstrating the task by listing several words beginning with B, Dr Raj added: “It’s important you visualise these words because it’s like you’re simulating micro-dreams. Those are the fleeting images that are going to occur as you transition to sleep. Once you’re bored of one letter, move on to the next.
“This trick helps to calm racing thoughts, so if your sleep software is malfunctioning, it’s worth giving it a go.”
Commenters on the video praised the technique, with some suggesting variations that also work well, such as choosing a category and naming one thing for each letter of the alphabet.
One person commented: “I saw someone recommend going through a topic and naming something for each letter of the alphabet, i.e. an animal or movie. It’s been an amazing help and works most nights for me.”
Another user added: “OH MY GOD. I didn’t know this was a thing. This is how I’ve naturally learned to fall asleep. I literally just braindump and think about the most random disconnected things, and I’m out like a light.”
