A doctor has shared a hack for getting back to sleep when you wake up at 3 am. Instead of trying to calm your racing thoughts, cognitive shuffling involves choosing a random word and thinking of objects starting with each letter of the word. This can help put your brain in sleep mode.
The idea is to start with a neutral word, such as “bed” or “dream”, and then think of words that begin with each letter of the chosen word. For example, if you choose the word “cloud”, you might think of “bat”, “binoculars”, and “elephant”. This can be done to distract your mind from stressful thoughts.
However, this technique may not work as well when applied to personal choices or emotions, such as a spouse’s preference for a certain type of word. One author attempted cognitive shuffling with her husband, but their disagreement over suitable starting words led to a heated argument and kept them awake long into the night.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/18/i-tried-the-latest-sleep-trick-and-my-husband-and-i-were-up-all-night