Guide · 6 minute read

How to do cognitive shuffling, step by step

You don't need an app to try the cognitive shuffle. The classic method needs one ordinary word and a few minutes in the dark. Here is how it works, what to do when your mind wanders, and the mistakes that keep people awake.

New to the idea? Start with what cognitive shuffling is. Want the words handed to you instead? Use the free Sleep Shuffle tool, which shows or speaks a new calm word every few seconds.

The seed-word method in eight steps

1. Get ready for sleep. Do your usual bedtime routine, turn off the light and lie in a comfortable position. Put your phone face down or out of reach.
2. Choose a seed word. Pick a simple, emotionally neutral word of four to eight letters with no repeated letters if possible, such as 'bread', 'planet' or 'garden'. Avoid words linked to work, people or worries.
3. Take the first letter. Start with the first letter of your seed word. For 'garden' that is G.
4. Think of a word that starts with that letter. Let a simple, concrete word come to mind that begins with the letter, for example 'goat'. Anything you can picture easily will do.
5. Picture it for a few seconds. Imagine the thing itself: its colour, its shape, where it might be. Spend roughly five to ten seconds, without straining for detail.
6. Move on to an unrelated word. Think of another word with the same letter that has nothing to do with the last one, such as 'gravel' after 'goat', and picture that. Keep going until the letter runs dry.
7. Move to the next letter. When you can't easily find more words, move to the next letter of the seed word (A, then R, then D) and repeat. If you reach the end of the word, start a new seed word.
8. Let it blur. If images become vague, slow or dreamlike, let them. If your mind returns to a worry, notice it without judging yourself and go back to the next word.

A worked example

Say your seed word is "planet". You begin with P.

Pear. A green pear on a white plate, slightly lopsided. Paddle. A wooden canoe paddle leaning against a fence. Pillow. A plain blue pillow. Pine cone. Postbox. Your mind brings up an email you forgot to send. You notice it, and you picture a parsnip. P is getting thin, so you move to L: lantern, lettuce, ladder, lighthouse...

Notice what is missing. There is no scene being built, no plot and no effort to make the pictures vivid or perfect. Each one is a small, harmless job for your attention, and then it's gone.

Tips that may help

Keep the words concrete

Things you can see and touch are easiest: spoon, meadow, button. Abstract words like patience or plan don't give you a picture, and they tend to start a train of thought.

Steer clear of charged words

If a word brings a person, a memory or a worry with it, drop it and move on. "Phone", "payslip" and "parents" are poor shuffle words for most of us. This is the main reason some people prefer a ready-made list: our cognitive shuffle word list leaves out violence, illness, money, people and brands.

Don't chase vividness

A faint sketch of a pear is plenty. Working hard to see every detail turns a sleepy exercise into a concentration task.

Expect your mind to wander

It will drift back to your day, often many times. Each time, just pick the next word. There is no score and no streak to break.

Don't monitor whether it's working

"Am I sleepy yet?" is a question that wakes you up. Leave the outcome alone and keep picturing.

Common mistakes

• Telling a story. Pear, then a fruit bowl, then a kitchen, then the person who used to live there. Jump instead: pear, paddle, pillow.
• Going alphabetically through categories. "Animals beginning with P" turns into a quiz. Any P word will do.
• Using a seed word that matters. Your child's name, your workplace or a holiday destination will pull you into memories.
• Lying there fighting it for an hour. If you are wide awake and frustrated, get up for a while. Staying in bed while upset can teach your body that bed is a place for being awake.

When the DIY method is hard

Some people find that inventing words is itself too much work at midnight, or that every letter seems to lead straight back to the thing they are anxious about. If that's you, take the generating out of your hands. You can read a dozen words from a printed list before turning off the light and picture them in any order, or let Sleep Shuffle pace them for you with the voice turned on and your eyes closed. In the original study of the technique, participants used an app that read out random words with an 8-second gap between them, which is the default pace of our tool too.

Let Sleep Shuffle supply the words