Reporter Fiona tried a technique recommended by Dr Amir Khan after struggling with sleep (Image: Getty)
It’s a sensation many of us know all too well – lying in bed, exhausted yet unable to drift off, desperately willing yourself to fall asleep. You glance at your phone, which reads “3am” – just four hours before the alarm goes off for work.
It’s a familiar frustration for many people: lying awake in bed, utterly exhausted but still unable to fall asleep. You check the time on your phone and see it’s already 3am, leaving just a few hours before the alarm rings for work.
Even after doing everything usually recommended — avoiding screens, skipping caffeine and trying to wind down properly — sleep can still feel out of reach. That was my reality last week, when I spent four nights in a row not dropping off until around 6am.
The reason seemed obvious enough. As soon as my head touched the pillow, my thoughts began racing. But after dealing with periods of insomnia for much of my life, I know that sometimes sleepless nights arrive with no clear explanation at all.
Relief came on the fifth night, when I remembered advice from Dr Amir Khan. In a recent video shared on Instagram, the doctor recommended a technique known as cognitive shuffling.
The approach is designed to signal to the brain that it is safe to sleep. Dr Amir said it can act as an effective alternative to counting sheep, especially for people whose minds are simply too busy to settle at bedtime.
After trying more sleep tips than I can count over the years, cognitive shuffling stands out as one of the simplest. It is also one of the easiest to remember, with no need to keep checking the instructions once you know the steps.
- Think of a word, ideally containing a varied selection of letters
- For each letter within the word, you must then come up with another word starting with that letter and visualise an image of it in your mind
- Continue this until you’ve exhausted all words beginning with that letter before moving to the next one
- Should you remain awake after completing the word, simply try another one
In the video, Dr Amir used the word “bed” as his example. For some reason, the first word I thought of was “basketball”.
I was taken aback by just how many words beginning with “B” I managed to find. Perhaps even more striking was the fact that some entries were rather abstract, making them harder to visualise mentally.
“Bed” came first, no doubt influenced by Dr Amir’s guidance, then “ball”, but subsequently “bologna” and “bolognese”, followed by “bad”. I persisted with “B” for considerably longer – refusing to throw in the towel.
Eventually, I moved on to “A”, where I thought of “ants”, “Australia”, “angry”, and “acne”. But somewhere along the line, I actually did fall asleep.
I have no memory of thinking about the letter “S”, which to me suggests I must have drifted off after only two letters. It almost feels ridiculous – to have lost so many nights of sleep only for this to be the solution.
Where does it come from?
Cognitive shuffling was popularised by Canada-based researcher Luc P. Beaudoin over a decade ago, following the publication of his paper exploring how what he termed “serial diverse imagining” could aid sleep.
The technique aims to mirror the thought processes of good sleepers by replicating the dream-like and fragmented thinking patterns they commonly experience before drifting off.
As reported by The Conversation, Beaudoin’s research distinguishes between two types of sleep-related thinking: insomnolent (or sleep-preventing) and pro-somnolent (sleep-encouraging) thoughts. Insomnolent thinking includes activities such as worrying, planning, rehearsing, and fixating on perceived problems or inadequacies.
Pro-somnolent thoughts, by contrast, involve thinking that can help you fall asleep, such as dream-like imagery or maintaining a calm, tranquil mental state.
Cognitive shuffling works to distract from or disrupt insomnolent thinking. It offers a calm, neutral pathway for your active mind, and can reduce the anxiety associated with sleeplessness.
Cognitive shuffling also indicates to your brain that you are ready for sleep.
The process of “shuffling” between different thoughts replicates the way your brain naturally transitions into sleep. During this shift towards sleep, brain activity slows down.
Your brain starts to generate unrelated images and fleeting scenes, known as hypnagogic hallucinations, without any conscious effort to make sense of them. By mimicking these disjointed, disconnected, and arbitrary thought processes, cognitive shuffling may help ease your shift from wakefulness to sleep.
When to see a GP
The NHS states that the average adult needs between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. On average, children need nine to 13 hours, while toddlers and babies need 12 to 17 hours.
The health body says you should see a GP if:
- Changing your sleeping habits has not helped your insomnia
- You’ve had trouble sleeping for months
- Your insomnia is affecting your daily life in a way that makes it hard for you to cope
