Guide · 6 minute read

What is cognitive shuffling?

Cognitive shuffling is a way of falling asleep by picturing a series of random, unrelated, calm things, one after another: a teacup, then a pine tree, then a bicycle bell. The idea is to give a busy mind something easy to do that leads nowhere, so the worrying has less to grab on to.

Cognitive shuffling in one paragraph

You lie in bed with your eyes closed. You think of a simple, neutral object and picture it for a few seconds, perhaps its colour, its shape, where it might sit. Then you let it go and picture something completely different. You keep going, one unconnected image at a time, without trying to make them fit together. The images should be dull in a pleasant way: nothing exciting, nothing upsetting, nothing that starts a story. That's it. There is no counting and no goal to reach, and you aren't trying to empty your mind.

You may also see it called the cognitive shuffle or, in the research, serial diverse imagining. "Serial" because the images come one after another, "diverse" because they are deliberately unalike, and "imagining" because you picture them rather than just repeat the words.

Where did it come from?

The technique was described by Luc Beaudoin, a cognitive scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada. His starting point was a theory about the way thinking changes as people fall asleep. Awake, problem-solving thought hangs together: one idea leads logically to the next. As you drift off, thought loosens into brief, disconnected images that don't add up to anything. Beaudoin's idea was that deliberately producing that kind of loose, varied imagery might help a wakeful mind move towards sleep, instead of waiting for it to happen on its own.

He set the theory out in a 2013 paper and, with colleagues at MacEwan University, presented a first study at the SLEEP 2016 research meeting. The technique reached a wide audience through newspaper coverage and through mySleepButton, an app Beaudoin's company makes. We look at what that study did and did not show in does cognitive shuffling work?

What does it actually feel like?

For most people the first few minutes feel slightly silly. You picture a lemon. Then a staircase. Your mind wanders back to tomorrow's meeting, you notice, and you picture a canoe. That noticing and returning is normal, and it is the whole exercise, not a sign you are doing it wrong.

After a while the images often get vaguer and slower. You may lose track of which word came last, or find a picture drifting into something dreamlike. That blurring is usually a good sign: it is the kind of thinking people describe as they fall asleep. There is no need to hold on to it or check whether it's working. Checking is itself the kind of thinking that keeps you awake.

Why random, and why calm?

Two rules do most of the work. The images must be unrelated, because related images turn into a story, and a story is just the kind of thread a restless mind loves to follow. And they must be neutral, because anything with an emotional charge, like an ex-partner's car or an unpaid bill, wakes you up. That is why a good shuffle list is full of ordinary things: pebbles, kettles, ferns, buttons. Our printable word list is built on exactly those rules. If you want the longer explanation, see how the cognitive shuffle might help.

How is it different from counting sheep?

Counting sheep is orderly: one, two, three, keep the count. That small amount of bookkeeping keeps part of your mind on duty, and it is easy to keep counting and keep worrying at the same time. A shuffle has no order to keep and no number to protect, and picturing something takes up more room in your attention than reciting a number. There is a fuller comparison in cognitive shuffle vs counting sheep.

Two ways to do it

In your head (the seed-word method)

Pick an easy word with no emotional weight, such as "garden". Take its first letter, G, and think of things that start with G: goat, guitar, gravel, grape. Picture each one for a few seconds. When G runs dry, move to the next letter of the word, A. This is the classic do-it-yourself version and needs nothing but you. We walk through it step by step in how to do cognitive shuffling.

With the words supplied for you

Some people find that thinking up words keeps them alert, or that their mind keeps sneaking back to the same few worries. In that case it may help to have someone, or something, hand you the words. That's what our free Sleep Shuffle tool does: it shows or speaks a new calm word every few seconds, and stops on its own after the time you choose. No app, no account.

Who is it for?

Cognitive shuffling is aimed at a specific, very common problem: you are tired, but your mind won't stop. You replay conversations, plan tomorrow, or worry in circles. If that sounds like your nights, it is worth a try. It is free, it has no known downside beyond a few dull minutes, and it fits easily alongside whatever else you do at bedtime.

It is less likely to help if what keeps you awake is pain, a snoring partner, noise, or a body clock that simply isn't ready for sleep. And it is not a treatment for insomnia. If poor sleep has lasted for months or is affecting your days, please talk to a doctor. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the recommended first treatment and has a much stronger evidence base than any single bedtime trick.

Try the cognitive shuffle now