Cognitive Shuffling: The Great Dream Escape

I recently stumbled upon an article about cognitive shuffling, a mental trick developed by Luc P. Beardon, designed to help you fall asleep by focusing on random words. It’s like a word game where you start with “Pluto” and then think of other words like “plunger, platypus, pizza, and pineapple.”

When you exhaust all the “P” words, you move on to the following letters, e.g., “L” for “lizard, llama, and lunatic”, etc. It’s supposed to distract your brain from those pesky thoughts that keep you awake, such as “How am I going to pay my bills?” or “Why did I eat that extra slice of pizza?”

I’ve been falling asleep for years while mentally planning my next day’s agenda. That helps bring on sleep, but it doesn’t help with the content of those dreams. They can be filled with nonsensical adventures—like when I accidentally turned my friend’s dog into a superhero, or someone’s cat is running for president and winning. I mean, what’s the deal with that?

Cognitive shuffling might be the key to chasing away these dreams. It’s like counting sheep, but with more brainpower required, which could make it more engaging… or it could be a recipe for insomnia.

I’ve recently started sitting in my favorite chair in complete darkness for five minutes before going to bed. It’s been helpful, but my dreams still haunt me. Some postulate that dreams are the brain’s way of flushing out the trash, but I’m not buying it. It’s more like my brain is trying to drive me crazy.

 So, tonight, as I lay in bed, kiss my wife goodnight, and wait for the softness of sleep to slowly relax every muscle in my body, I’ll be reciting: “Pluto, platypus, plunger, and please, for the love of all things sane, no more dreams about my friend’s dog in a superhero cape.” Wish me luck!