Doctor promises 'shuffling' technique helps you fall asleep instantly

It's normal to struggle with sleep from time to time. With our hectic lives, time spent watching screens, and busy brains, it can be hard to shut off and drift off to sleep.

According to Mental Health UK, almost one in five people in the UK aren't getting enough sleep, and the NHS estimates that around one in three people in the UK suffer from insomnia. Insomnia means you struggle to get to sleep, and have difficulty staying asleep.

You might find these periods of insomnia come and go, but if it's persistent, it can have an impact on the quality of your life. It means you may feel tired and irritable through the day, have difficulty concentrating, and don't feel refreshed when you get up.

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There are many things you can do to treat insomnia, such as keeping your bedroom a comfortable temperature, exercising regularly during the day, creating a relaxing bedtime routine, and making sure your bedroom is dark and quiet. But there are also techniques experts recommend to use for if you're struggling to fall asleep.

NHS GP Dr Amir Khanrecently shared an amazing sleep hack on his podcast with presenter Cherry Healey, No Appointment Necessary. In the episode, they discussed the "causes of tiredness, fatigue and sleep problems", as well as what you can do to "boost your sleep quality and energy levels".

In a clip posted to TikTok, Dr Khan shared a "medically proven sleep hack you've never heard of". He said: "If you really want a helpful technique to get off to sleep, there's this thing we use in medicine called Cognitive Shuffling."

Explaining how it works, he said the technique gives "your brain random things to think about that aren't stressful and can be quite calming". In order to do this, Dr Khan recommends going through the letters of the alphabet, starting with A, and think of random words beginning with that letter, before moving on to B, then C and so forth.

He added: "I promise you, you won't get past E or F. You'll be asleep. I recommended this to a few people and the feedback I got was incredible."

In the comment section people started sharing their own experiences. "I’ve been doing the alphabet game for years it does help," said one person. Another wrote: "I do this - I think of musicals, and then the next musical starts with the last letter of the previous one. I do it with animals too. Sends me right off to the land of nod."

And a third commented: "I do this but with random words beginning with the letters and make sure each word has no link to the previous one, I never get past F."

If you're struggling with insomnia and it's affecting your daily life, it's always a good idea to speak to your GP.