Cognitive Shuffling: A Surprising Sleep Technique That Could End Your Insomnia

It's 2 am. You're exhausted. You've tried everything. Warm milk. Breathing exercises. Counting sheep. Reading until your eyes hurt. And you're still wide awake, staring at the ceiling.

Your brain won't stop. You're replaying the conversation you had at work. Planning tomorrow's to-do list. Worrying about something that might not even happen. The harder you try to fall asleep, the more awake you feel.

If this is your nightly reality, there's a technique you probably haven't tried yet. It's called cognitive shuffling. And while it sounds weird, it actually works for a lot of people.

Many people we work with in therapy across Illinois describe struggling with sleep. Not just occasionally, but night after night. They're exhausted but can't turn their brain off. And the frustration of not being able to sleep makes it even harder to sleep.

If this is you, cognitive shuffling might help.

Why You Can't Fall Asleep

When you're trying to fall asleep, your brain needs to shift out of "day mode." Day mode is logical, problem-solving, and planning. It's the mode you need to function during the day. But it's the opposite of what you need to fall asleep.

People who fall asleep easily don't try to calm their minds or clear their thoughts. Their brain naturally shifts into random, wandering, almost dream-like thinking. Images pop up that don't make logical sense. Thoughts drift from one thing to another without connection.

People who struggle to fall asleep stay stuck in day mode. They're thinking about tomorrow. Replaying conversations. Worrying about consequences. Problem-solving. Their brain won't shift out of logical thinking.

And the more you try to force yourself to stop thinking, the more alert you become. It's like trying not to think about a pink elephant. The effort itself keeps you awake.

What Cognitive Shuffling Actually Is

Cognitive shuffling is a technique that tricks your brain into shifting out of day mode by giving it something random and meaningless to focus on.

Instead of trying to clear your mind or calm your thoughts, you intentionally think of random, unrelated images. One after another. Quickly. Without creating any story or logical connection between them.

It sounds counterintuitive. Stimulating your brain before sleep? But that's exactly why it works. You're redirecting your brain away from logical, stressful thoughts and toward the kind of random, nonsensical thinking that happens right before you fall asleep naturally.

How to Do It

There are two ways to try cognitive shuffling. With an app or on your own.

Using an app

There's a free app called mySleepButton that does this for you. It gives you random prompts. Words or phrases describing objects or scenes. You visualize each one briefly, and then it gives you another one. The constant shuffling keeps your mind occupied but not engaged enough to stay fully alert.

Doing it yourself

You can also do this without an app. Here's how.

Pick a random word. At least five letters. Not too many repeated letters. Something neutral. BLANKET works well.

Start with the first letter. B. Think of a word that starts with B. Basket. Picture a basket in your mind for a few seconds. Then think of another B word. Balloon. Picture it. Then another. Blueberry. Picture it.

Keep going with B words until you can't think of any more or you start feeling sleepy. Then move to the next letter. L. Lamp. Lion. Lemon.

The key is not to create a story. Not to make connections. Just random images. One after another. Switching quickly.

Why This Works

Your brain can't be in problem-solving mode and random-image mode at the same time.

When you're thinking about random, meaningless images, your brain isn't worrying about tomorrow or replaying today. It's not planning or analyzing. It's doing what it naturally does right before sleep, drifting through disconnected thoughts and images.

It's like giving your brain a decoy. Something harmless to focus on, so it stops focusing on the things keeping you awake.

What to Keep in Mind

Don't try too hard. If you start drifting off mid-thought, let it happen. The goal isn't to complete the whole word or stay perfectly focused. The goal is to drift off.

Use pleasant images. Don't pick words that could lead to stressful or triggering images. Stick with neutral, boring stuff. Furniture. Food. Animals. Objects.

This isn't a replacement for good sleep habits. If you're drinking coffee at 8 pm or scrolling your phone in bed, no technique will fully fix that. But if you're doing everything right and still can't fall asleep, this might help.

Be patient. Like anything, it works better with practice. The first few times might feel awkward or forced. That's normal.

When Sleep Problems Are Bigger Than Technique

If you've been struggling to sleep for weeks or months, if lack of sleep is affecting your mood, work, or relationships, or if you're dealing with anxiety or depression that's making sleep impossible, therapy can help.

At Walk With Me Counseling Center, we work with people across Illinois through online therapy who are struggling with sleep issues related to stress, anxiety, or other mental health concerns. Our therapists are culturally responsive and can help you understand what's keeping you awake and develop strategies that actually work for you.

We offer free 15-minute consultations so you can talk through what's going on and see if therapy feels like the right support. Many people use insurance to make therapy more accessible, and we work with BCBS PPO and Aetna PPO.

Sleep problems aren't just frustrating. They affect everything. Your mood, your energy, your ability to cope with stress. You don't have to just live with it. And you don't have to figure it out alone.