For months I’ve been waking up at 3 a.m. with anxiety — a doctor shared this trick to falling asleep in seconds and it's a game changer for my sleep

The image shows a dark haired woman lying in bed with her eyes open. A blue cloud-shaped Tom's Guide Sleep Week 2026 is overlaid on top of the image in the bottom right hand corner.

Stress and anxiety caused by hormone fluctuations means that waking up at 3 a.m. has been plaguing my sleep for months. In these moments of staring at the ceiling, heart pounding and thoughts racing, falling back to sleep feels like an impossibility.

Tired and disheartened, I spoke to Dr William Lu, a sleep medicine physician, for the sleep method he recommends for soothing nighttime anxiety and falling back to sleep fast. His answer? Cognitive shuffling, a relaxation technique that helps halt sleep-stealing rumination in its tracks.

Since trying it, cognitive shuffling is now my go-to method for falling back to sleep in seconds. Here, I’ll explore in closer detail what cognitive shuffling is, why it works and how you can try it tonight to fall back to sleep fast.

Key take-aways: At a glance