Bedtime hack will get you to sleep in 'under five minutes' and doctors approve

Woman in bed
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You could get a better night's sleep with this game-changing hack.

We all know the feeling of settling into bed after a long day and finding ourselves unable to drift off because our brains just won't stop working overtime. Whether you're reflecting on something you did earlier in the day, worrying about your lengthy to-do list for the next day, or recalling a conversation from years ago, our brains love to keep us awake with incessant thoughts that just don't seem to stop.

However, according to one doctor, there is actually a sleep technique that can stop these unwanted thoughts, help you feel less stressed at bedtime, and guarantee you fall asleep in five minutes or less.

It's a technique known as cognitive shuffling, and it was shared on TikTok in a video by Joel Chesters, who said his professor at Oxford University taught him it. Doctor Karan Rajan then responded to Joel's video to discuss the technique in more detail, explaining what it is and how it works.

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Dr Rajan said: "If you're struggling to fall asleep, this is the biological version of holding down the power button. When you're in bed, it's easy to get repetitive, disruptive thought patterns. This can trigger a stress response, which keeps you awake. The more you're awake, the more unwanted thought patterns you get, meaning less sleep.

"Cognitive shuffling can break this cycle of overthinking by taking away your active cognitive effort. It's the human brain version of picking shuffle on your mind playlist versus having to manually change a song every time. Less stress."

To start the exercise, you just have to pick a random word. Dr Raj picked "bedtime", but the word could be anything you want. For each letter of the word you choose, simply name as many other words beginning with that letter as you can before moving on to the next one.

After listing several words beginning with B to demonstrate the task, Dr Raj added: "It's important you visualise these words because it's like you're simulating micro-dreams. Those are the fleeting images that are going to occur as you transition to sleep. Once you're bored of one letter, move on to the next. This trick helps to calm racing thoughts, so if your sleep software is malfunctioning, it's worth giving it a go."

Commenters on the video praised the technique, as some said there are slight variations you can do that also work wonders, such as picking a category and naming one thing for each letter of the alphabet.

One person said: "I saw someone recommend going through a topic and naming something for each letter of the alphabet, i.e. an animal or movie. It's been an amazing help and works most nights for me."

Another added: "OH MY GOD. I didn't know this was a thing. This is how I've naturally learned to fall asleep. I literally just braindump and think about the most random disconnected things, and I'm out like a light."