What Is Cognitive Shuffling?

Dr. Joe Whittington, 47, has been an emergency room physician for two decades, but he can still find it tough to quiet his mind after leaving the hospital.

As he tried to doze off after one particularly chaotic shift, he kept thinking about a victim of a motorcycle crash whose vital signs had tanked, a patient who developed sepsis and another whose heart had suddenly stopped beating.

His tendency to replay the night’s events — and his irregular work hours — often made it tricky for him to fall asleep. Over the years, he tried deep breathing, meditation and melatonin, before finally stumbling upon a technique called cognitive shuffling.

The sleep strategy helps to “force my mind out of that loop and into a state where I can finally rest,” said Dr. Whittington, who has shared it on his Instagram account, which has more than 750,000 followers.

“Cognitive shuffling” has been touted on social media for years, but does it really work? We spoke with sleep experts and the scientist who created the technique to learn more.

What is cognitive shuffling?

Cognitive shuffling is a mental exercise that involves focusing your mind on words that have no association with one another, as a way of signaling to your brain that it’s time to fall asleep. The task is meant to be engaging enough to distract you from the thoughts that may be impeding sleep, but not so interesting that your brain perks up.

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