Overview
- On his No Appointment Necessary podcast, the NHS GP described cognitive shuffling and said patients and social media commenters report it helps them fall asleep.
- The exercise involves giving the brain random, non-stressful tasks such as running through letters of a word or the alphabet and listing or visualising related items.
- Khan framed the method as used in medicine, while coverage notes it is not a primary treatment for chronic insomnia and may not work for everyone.
- A 2016 pilot study by cognitive scientist Luc Beaudoin reported promising results for people with racing thoughts, but more rigorous trials are needed.
- Interest is growing online, with clinicians like Dr Arthur Joustra promoting the approach on TikTok, as surveys show roughly one in three UK adults struggle with sleep.