STOP COUNTING SHEEP.

DO THE COGNITIVE SHUFFLE INSTEAD.

This isn’t an obscure dance move from the ’50s. It’s a technique developed by Luc Beaudoin, a cognitive scientist at British Columbia’s Simon Fraser University, that is meant to get your mind off the things that typically keep you up at night (job, money, Trump). It works by “putting the brain into a state that is similar to the one you’re in when you’re falling asleep,” says Beaudoin. Try it: Think of a neutral word (i.e., one that has no positive or negative connotations) with at least five letters. Spell out the word, and then think of a word that starts with each of the letters. When you think of the word, imagine its shape. Continue using that first letter until you’ve exhausted all the words you can think of and then move on to the next letter. You will probably fall into a deep sleep before the word is finished.