COGNITIVE SHUFFLING for sleep

[Finn]

Been trying this for a few weeks now and it seems to have helped my sleep issues QUITE SUBSTANTIALLY. So making a thread in case it can help you too.

This week alone I've woken up early (circa 4am) twice - which would usually see me get no more sleep and be shattered all day - but both times I tried this and got another 90 mins. So far it seems great for shutting out the racing mind thoughts.

Cognitive shuffling: The micro-dreaming game that helps you sleep

For over a decade, this image-based technique has helped people switch off their busy brains and fall asleep at night. How exactly does it play upon the mind?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[big ron]

Ms ron has a version of this but using the alphabet and a theme. She swears by it. It just winds me up.

 

[jyxz]

Courgette does not begin with Z

 

[D5K]

For years now if I can't sleep (which is quite often) I've found myself trying to remember and recite lists of things e.g. pick a country and work backwards through each of their Eurovision entries (last night was Lithuania). It certainly helps distract myself from other thoughts and usually means I can get back to sleep.

PS. Little By Little was a bop.

 

[lolly]

For years now if I can't sleep (which is quite often) I've found myself trying to remember and recite lists of things e.g. pick a country and work backwards through each of their Eurovision entries (last night was Lithuania). It certainly helps distract myself from other thoughts and usually means I can get back to sleep.

PS. Little By Little was a bop.

Genuinely think this would make it worse for me, as when I couldn't remember one, it would drive me insane and I'd need to reach for my phone to google it. And then of course, it's game over.

 

[lolly]

My problem has tended to always be getting off to sleep rather than staying asleep. Even with age and being more likely to wake up to use the bathroom, the majority of the time I can get back to sleep quickly.

I use a sleepband to get off to sleep, and use it for something from Radio 4, or a podcast. The trick is to pick something which is interesting enough to get your brain to focus on it, but only mildly diverting so you dont get too wrapped up in it. So I suppose it kind of is cognitive shuffling in as much as I'm giving my brain something else to focus on to replace replaying the day's events, or worrying about tomorrow.

 

[Agneeta]

Podcasts are gold for sleep.

My sleep has improved radically in the last year or so. I was so hooked on sleeping tablets (nightly for a while - now less than one a week) and lo and behold my sleep was actually rather good. Lying on my back rather than my side, seems to remove meandering thoughts from my mind and send me off. It's rare I'm not asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed.

 

[PercyPig]

Have a wank

Tried and tested technique

 

[big ron]

I've realised the key to sleep for me is to be physically tired. Gym/alottment/bike/no sleep from partying. If I'm just sat working at my desk and don't go and do something excercise based for a few days my brain won't shut the fuck up.

 

[big ron]

That and weed.

 

[big ron]

Infact, I am prescribed weed for sleep. But it needs to be in combo with physical exertion.

 

[Sheena]

I used to recite all the finalists in the athletics from the 1992 Olympics if I’d taken drugs. That worked a treat!

I sometimes do this and sometimes count backwards from a random number in the hundreds, visualising each number.

But yes, generally that’s only if I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. To drop off, I use my sleep band headphone thing (without using the mask itself over the eyes as that annoys me) with the Calm app or a podcast on and I’m out very quickly, but falling asleep has rarely been an issue for me.

Here’s one I prepared earlier:

 

[Tisch]

I've taken to reading a random Wikipedia page. I normally get about a paragraph through before I've had enough. I'm still on my phone but I'm not doomscrolling so it's "different". It works, and I pick up where I left off the next night.

Currently reading about Francis Drake

 

[dUb]

What is this please

I don’t have time for a long bbc article

 

[Finn]

You do but LET ME HELP YOU:

The technique involves thinking of a random, emotionally neutral word, for example, "cake". You take the first letter of the word, in this case "C", and think of as many items or objects as you can that begin with the same letter, such as "car," "carrot" and "cottage" – visualising each item as you go.

Once you can't think of any more words beginning with C, you move on to the second letter. I rarely make it to the third.

 

[GNL]

Have a wank

Cock-nitive shuffling.