A simple technique to help you fall asleep

Cognitive shuffling 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. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PEXELS

Christina Caron

UPDATED Apr 29, 2025, 11:00 AM

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NEW YORK – 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 irregular working hours and tendency to replay the night’s events 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 posted about it on his Instagram account, which has more than 750,000 followers.