How screens actually affect your sleep

[@shoriryu1216]

bold of you to assume that I feel alert and awake in the morning, Vox

[@caskadestudio]

I honestly don't think I _ever_ feel alert and awake in the morning.

[@MichaelSchwarzbacha]

The best thing to do is get sunlight after you wake up, literally either go outside or go next to a window for 5min. Science-backed and makes a huge difference

[@MrUnl0rd]

A moment silence for those already at work before the sun is up

[@PavanKumar-ft5hi]

I feel alert in the evening, when I'm in my home, in front of my computer. I feel like I can do anything on my table.

[@irenesara455]

​@@MichaelSchwarzbachacan't do it in a bad cloudy weather 😭

[@Evelyn-lq9gk]

not me watching this while IN BED

[@aussiejubes]

Same lol

[@samsam21amb]

same,

[@Squiglenoodles]

Same lol

[@M4NA5]

not me cringing on a “not me” comment

[@riannebanzuela7099]

me watching this at 3 AM😅

[@DaxSkrai]

I used to educate people on good sleep habits (sleep hygiene). My number one advice to help you sleep at night? Don't do ANYTHING in your bed unless it's sleeping. If your body believes every time you lay in bed that the ONLY thing that's about to happen is sleep, it'll learn pretty quick. In my opinion, that's the real issue with using your phone before bed. The fact that you're training your body that "bed time" is actually "2-hours-of-screen-time-before-bed time".

[@maxfeeldcomp]

What are your other tips?

[@overgrowncIit]

How about laying in bed during the day or evening to do some work or watching an episode before bed?

[@DaxSkrai]

@@overgrowncIit Any activity in your bed other than sleeping will diminish the connection your mind has with your bed and sleep. It's not like it's impossible to sleep well if you do a million things in bed, just that that's what I would say is the best advice I have. Specifically "do not lay in your bed unless you are going to sleep".

[@bearwynn]

nah i watch peaceful videos like people building in nature or a pocket watch repair. best nights sleep of my life they're so relaxing.

[@jellybeansi]

Yeah, I thought I had untreatable sleep-onset insomnia, and it was just bad sleep hygeine/conditioning. I stopped using my phone and reading in bed, and I fall asleep so fast now. Really bonkers how well that worked.

[@k.cooper8816]

I always find Dark Mode more useful than Night Shift.

[@LizziesLukas]

I'm glad most smartphone nowadays have built-in Dark Mode or Night Mode features... and all my social media are all in Dark Mode including KZbin & Reddit... even got my Windows 11 all black design

[@koalaunknown]

I like both

[@madebysharks]

its not darkmode or nightshift lol. Night shift decreases blue light...

[@lolo_o4309]

@@madebysharks darkmode reduces the overall brightness of the screen which is also a factor as explained in the video

[@steklùma]

​​@@madebysharks Dark mode in oled/amoled screens can totally turn off black pixels, so it really helps.

[@njott1021]

A big factor that negatively affects your sleep because of your phone is mental stimulation. The small novel hits of dopamine prevents your body from properly resting. Some people won't have an issue, but some people can hit the pillow tired but can stay up scrolling for hours. Other can even fall asleep while doom scrolling, chances are their quality of sleep is being negativity effected.

[@jakehr3]

This is why I appreciate the KZbinrs who make 1+ hour long videos of them doing activities with low energy. Something to watch that is just interesting enough to turn to, but not so interesting that my brain is like "I need to stay up to see what's next"

[@user-sf9gs2pg1b]

Yup, for me, making my phone black and white makes it boring and reduces my mental stimulation. Complete game changer.

[@Raphael-lu7vj]

I don't know how people can do it. Usually when I'm on my phone at night I'm in the kitchen. As soon as I'm done for the night, I put my phone on the charger in my room on my desk 2 meters from me and brush my teeth and on and prepare for sleep and go to sleep. If I can't sleep after 30 minutes of trying it, I put some low relaxing music and pay attention to it until I fall asleep.

[@ad16]

@@user-sf9gs2pg1b how do you do that?

[@baverskalle]

Been watching tons of these kinds of videos, but you actually brought something new to the table. Phone time (20 minutes ok), level of nights, phone distance, and changing the amount of morning light. Thank you.

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

I've got no idea how helpful this actually is, but I have automated lighting in my bedroom that goes from cold to warm throughout the day, and gets darker as it gets to when I sleep. Since I start using it I rarely get insomnia, at least if I'm not ill or something.

[@ShadowKingpin]

I always recommend reading a book while in bed, as it help immensely with not looking at blue light, and it will eventually make you tired. Once I changed to this routine, I have been sleeping like a baby.

[@Katrina13J]

The trouble is, the books I read are on my phone 😆

[@ShadowKingpin]

@@Katrina13J If it is ever within your budget, I highly recommend an e-reader, as the e-ink display doesn’t emit any blue light. They have been a godsend for me whenever I have needed to read a digital book at night.

[@sirwoofie]

@@Katrina13J Sounds like you need to get a Kindle (or similar)! I enjoy reading my kindle before bed as it's relaxing and the screen is fairly dim.

[@Kwint.]

you need light to read it

[@Fento31]

I used to do that, now I cant read novel without feeling sleepy.

[@FusionC6]

I work midnights. I like to walk to work (about 35mins) it wakes me up and energizes me so I'm not tired when I show up for my shift (which involves siting at a desk mostly). When I walk home its my favorite part of the day because that sunny walk always puts me in an amazing mood, especially if I don't have to work the next day. its like waking up on Saturday morning. (almost lol)

[@thor.mukbang]

The sunset light always gives me so much energy, where as daylight just makes me stressed

[@thor.mukbang]

@ana_carolina251 I also think it's in part because I have photosensitivity genetics, like sneezing when I look at the sun.

[@DarkKnight-db1dy]

Tell me more about these genetics. It is a new thing I have learned today.​@@thor.mukbang

[@FreakyBo0o]

same!

[@medicalmelonplayground3660]

Funny thing is I’m watching this while in bed

[@someguy6075]

2:41 Higher CCT is not higher shift, it is the opposite. CCT means Correlated Color Temperature, which are the numbers you were discussing at 1:23. I don't know what the author's basis is for "not significant" but figure 4 in the paper seems pretty clear that CCT is an important factor, just not the only one.

[@Ask-Ali]

Are they talking about statistical significance? So given your interpretation would features like night shift still be worth it?

[@brianfunt2619]

No error bars on the chart showed in the video, so we don't know the standard deviation of melatonin suppression amongst participants in each group

[@-ihhssan-9062]

Honestly, it just displays how awesome our bodies are and how poorly we take care of it... Brilliant video !

[@4RILDIGITAL]

The complexities of sleep science and our intricate relationship with screens are really fascinating. To healthier relationships with our gadgets and better sleep.

[@Fg795yt]

Watching this at 3am when I have to get up early tommorow you can’t save me Vox

[@Enthralpy]

I have such a weird issue. For some reason, blue light filters *give* me headaches. The filter, not blue ilght itself. I've tried it on my computer and on my phone. When my screen gets reddish, I will start getting real bad headaches. I've had this issue for years until I realized the filter was causing it. Once I turned it off, my headaches went away in a week. This is such a rare thing that I only found like one reddit thread and one article about it. Anyone else have this problem?

[@ariyanna7413]

I do as well unfortunately. It happens in less than a minute after turning it on

[@vatsallakhani7341]

it's 4am rn vox!!!

[@ShubhGG12]

where im watching this its nearly 6 o'clock in the evening

[@joelthorstensson2772]

Watching this at 14:25 (so ~20 minutes after release) in Europe (14:25 is 2:25 PM for non-24 hour users.)

[@michaelfreeman222]

In California it came out at 5am were do you live lol

[@joelthorstensson2772]

@@michaelfreeman222 Me? I'm Swedish.

[@Jdbfyskxuek]

Why at 2:57 the chart shows High CCT(warmer) suppress more percentage of melatonin than Low CCT(Cooler)? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[@Jdbfyskxuek]

@Vox

[@Yosetime]

Oh geez, you're right! I first thought you were reading it wrong. But I went back to look and I was reading it wrong. I was thinking that the % of melatonin was 'non-suppression'. But it is clearly 'suppression'. Maybe that's why it said it doesn't work. Good catch there! I totally missed that.

[@raghav1694]

Night shift is a work shift in India. People working with computers all night, sleep all day.

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

Yeah that's what I tought of when I saw this lol

[@prasanth2601]

Especially for software engineers

[@Bonyari_Boy]

The feature name ‘Night Shift’ is a bit of wordplay based on that meaning.

[@meganrichardson6471]

Yes we use it that way in the U.S. also. There’s also swing shift, which is more like the evening.

[@flamingscar5263]

Another important factor for specifically waking up is eating, light isn't the only thing that controls our circadian rhythm but our digestive system has good impact as well, if your someone to eat before you go to bed, that will impact your sleep, your digestive system will send a signal to your brain saying "HEY, don't go to sleep yet, I need to divest this food" and the same is true in the morning, your body will adjust to making you feel more alert based on when in the day you eat. If your trying to manipulate your circadian rhythm then eat right as you wake up, and a decent sized meal as well not just like a muffin, and opposite for sleeping, we often think that we should eat big meals for dinner, but that will harm your sleep, a big meal takes more time to digest. Also someone may say "but doesn't food make you tired? Yes, that's because your using energy ro digest it, but your stomach wants you awake while you do that, but some individual foods will contain chemicals that make you tired, we all know how Thanksgiving turkey makes you feel, that's because turkey contains chemicals that play a similar role to melatonin

[@kebyzak]

loved how author put olivia rodrigo's song 'bad idea right?' 🤣

[@luuketaylor]

I feel like you arrived at one of the most important, newer reasons for these issues before ending the video: short form scrollable content served up by an algorithm. Shorts, Reels, TikToks, and the like are destroying attention spans. Yes, it's one part of the pie, but it's relatively new and already wreaking havoc.

[@g00ners43ver]

Thanks for the knowledge! (watched at 2.30 in the morning)

[@thepenguin9]

I use devices with screens constantly, and I vehemently stand behind changing the temperature* of the screen using native settings (night light, night shift, etc) Set it to a sunset-sunrise schedule and it'll automatically shift perfectly *don't use filters that just add the colour red or orange but translucent. This is still emitting blue light

[@Adays700]

One of the best things I love to do is wake up and go outside immediately with my bottle of water and walk on the grass barefoot and drink water while I stretch a little bit to wake myself up. Making sure to do this right when I wake up without looking at my phone or artificial lighting. It really makes me feel so much better throughout the day. And it just takes 10 minutes to do.

[@LeechyKun]

Once I got into OLED screens I've been constantly using *DARK MODE* to prolong its lifespan and less burn-in risk. That also helps with the bright light shining on your face. Another easy way to sleep is to stop thinking while trying to sleep. Soothing nature music or rain noise or white noise in general can help which is why I leave my desktop running 24/7 with the fans humming in the distance.

[@jellybeansi]

I used to use my cell phone in bed all the time, and even with night mode, it took me hours to fall asleep. I did CBTI and it totally removed the association of being in bed = staying up and doing stuff. I fall asleep within a few minutes now, even if I use my phone before bed - as long as I'm using it in another room.

[@Maple_Tachibana]

I’m extremely nocturnal. I am asleep in the morning and awake at night. My body doesn’t even feel awake when there is natural light. Even more weird is, most of my cousins are like me, by 5am we are asleep then we wake up 4 or 5pm. Although this usually only happens when we are on vacation or we have no “jobs” that would force us to wake up or normalise our sleep. Great video, made me contemplate the idea that night owls are a hereditary aspect.

[@youtubedoapollo]

These videos are awesome! ❤

[@ego-lay_atman-bay]

3:15 I feel called out, because I watch (more than) 3 episodes of a show I'm currently watching. It's not necessarily a netflix show, but it is a show.

[@imjustsomeguy]

That makes sense. My sleep schedule is awful and I usually don’t get a lot of sunlight. But whenever I go on vacation and out in the sun for hours, I can sleep early

[@danytalksmusic]

Screen flicker rate is also important, because it overstimulates our nervous system. Luckily most laptops have LCD's which have less flicker due to using PWM so it's a good idea to switch to a laptop or desktop late at night over your phone if you really need to do something on a screen...

[@Scarface4TX]

I use a color inversion (white become black, etc.) with minimum brightness because I don't use my phone to see videos or images at night much. Not sure if science would back me up on this, but I think it makes a meaningful difference. Anyone else tried it?

[@Isaacdude4355]

I’ve had night shift on for like a year and haven’t changed it’s on 100 percent of the time

[@bellmattwebb]

This video made me sleepy 😴

[@stephanietahn9066]

This is interesting. I'm from the PH, work an 8-hr night shift, 9pm to 6am and I sleep 12pm to 8pm. I sleep good during afternoons. Took me a long time to get used to it but it works for me.

[@matt45540]

The problem is people don't want to hear this. People complain to me about their sleep and I know for a fact they sit there and scroll in bed all night. Addictions a hard thing to deal with

[@Yosetime]

Good point. What people want to hear is how they can mess around with their phones all night and still get enough sleep. Which is impossible. You have to make a conscious decision to go to sleep.

[@michaeltrinh3332]

2:56 More melationin is suppressed at a higher CCT?

[@AA-wc3tw]

I fall asleep quickly but wake up 1-3 hours before my alarm. How can I force my brain to stay asleep until my alarm sounds? I don't use my phone in bed.

[@SeanMather]

I find I need to use a device before I go to sleep, sure, it might be messing with my circadian rhythm (whose rhythm seems like it’s drums being played by a group of toddlers), but it settles my mental state to a point where it finally shuts up for the night. Otherwise it’s still cranking at 100 km/h, which will keep me awake for sure.

[@ceno10101]

ok, the thumbnail had me confused for half this video before explaining that night shift was talking about some phone setting, instead of actual night shift jobs effecting your sleep.

[@ckhpersonal670]

fnaf

[@OlimpiuVuia]

Reporting from bed. That's something new!

[@GradientYoutube]

Bro I am watching this after I got 3 hours of sleep due to binge watching young Sheldon

[@tiagomaqz]

Am I the only that NEEDS a video to help me fall asleep? Like I love to watch space documentaries.

[@人生不是這樣就是那樣]

😮

[@JJ_Magnificent]

lol nah i put on a movie but volume and brightness all the way down

[@tiagomaqz]

@@JJ_Magnificent then you're agreeing. lol. I also put the brightness and volume down.

[@a9sdg9oajs]

Night shift isn’t red enough. Here’s how, on iPhone, to properly red your screen: Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut > Enable triple click side button to be color filter Now, settings > accessibility > display & text sizes > color filters turn it on, enable color tint, increase intensity all the way, and scroll the hue all the way to red (to the right for me) now just triple click the side button to make your screen only pump out red light

[@Yosetime]

But why RED? Why not other colors, like brown or yellow hues?

[@a9sdg9oajs]

@@Yosetime due to our biology. Because sunlight gets more red in the afternoon/evening. And then, evolutionarily, we had fires in the evening, which emit red light. So, when our brain sees red light only, it helps circadian rhythm know its soon time to sleep

[@davidcantor293]

I just went from night to day shift. World of difference. My full 4 days off are enjoyed!

[@jumazaczac2291]

Simple self control, is enough. trust me try one day not touching your phone 30 min before sleep and 30 min after waking up. you will feel so much rested and energized

[@breemedia_house]

"Night Screen" app, warm light that is also incredibly dim paired with any video about our universe, natural history or physics knocks me out every night.

[@JohnnyHibner]

How does high CCT at 2:52 have a higher suppression rate than low CCT ? o:

[@nasimbanaei6619]

Thanks for making this video. Please make a video on how we can challenge misconceptions and fight against misinformation. Thanks in advance! :)

[@SamiKhan_15]

My Melatonin works in reverse. I am sleepy throughout the day and quite active after evening!

[@Yosetime]

Take lower doses of melatonin and take it 2 hours, at least, before bed and at least 10 hours before you need to be awake. Or stop taking it by slowly reducing the dose over a few weeks. Lots of people do naturally have a different circadian rhythm. You might be a natural night owl. But if you do need to go to sleep earlier because you have to work in the am, then trying to reset it with melatonin is good. But there is a specific way to do this. So maybe learn more about it.

[@ilovecoffee711]

Weird, I was googling this just last night, and then vox releases this today

[@stellaewunia9783]

Good video. Do one on existential dread next please.

[@billypeterson6280]

Me, seeing "night shift" in the thumbnail, being an overnight shift worker...

[@happyhattergamer8078]

I’m TOTALLY NOT watching this in bed at midnight. Totes not me.

[@nikhilananth6589]

One factor maybe a study has not considered is the size of the device and proximal location to the user before they sleep. Assuming time variable is already taken account, is there a correlation to sleepiness?

[@quadsnipershot]

I use dark mode and night shift at night for at least not having eye strain and to me it feels better then staring at very bright screen.

[@beatboxchannel2006]

As of now I just changed to dark mode 📳 2:53 😂

[@JuuzouRCS]

Awesome video, but who else was feeling sleepy watching this? It felt like I was getting reminded I should sleep asap xD

[@meganrichardson6471]

Let’s put loud background music over the quiet scientific expert 🙄

[@klaxxon__]

I use the grayscale mode option Android has. It simply deters phone use because it is a bit annoying to use, and video and games suffer especially, which is exactly what is supposed to happen.

[@d0zeboy]

my question is, aside from stimulation and other variables, how different is light from a lamp or light in the room different from a phone, or sunlight? If it's primarily the light itself, then is reading a book with the light on any better?

[@djayjp]

2:54 Pretty sure the chart labelling is backwards here...

[@TetsuyaSato-lf9mo]

Thank you for the information. That'll help me a lot

[@ghostlightning]

As a Filipino, while I love all of these (because rice is life) I would prefer the Chinese version because we want the rice to go with some other protein and vegetable. Our fried rice is far simpler: Sinangag or garlic fried rice, truly meant to be part of an ensemble.

[@God_069]

Thank you for so much information ❤

[@ckq]

Just put the brightness as low as possible and blue light filter to the max, make it black and white if possible. My problem is I want to go to sleep by 10, but it always ends up being between 12 and 2, so I'm either lazy and only truly get up at 10 and waste half a day or if I wake up before 8, I spend the morning being annoyed that I only got ~5-6 hours of sleep. My screen time is wildly high, probably around 10-13 hours a day with a third of it coming before I sleep.

[@Dxdme1]

4:16 nobody noticed the song?? 😄💜

[@externalplayz]

Yes!!!

[@hayeonkim7838]

Thanks for useful and valuable video as always ❤❤❤

[@chasefalkenhagen8093]

Love the little subtle nod to Olivia Rodrigo's "bad idea right?" song on your screen. :D

[@cursedblade6657]

According to this people in tropical areas should basically sleep better 🤷

[@buuh7592]

Great video, i was looking forward to see a difference between screens like tv, phone and ebook readers... cause while i don't bring my phone to bed, i do read on my kindle every night , so, is there a difference between these screens?

[@Claw.00]

I dont know for sure, but I would assume so. Especially if you have one of the e-ink kindles.

[@victormochengo]

Interesting video. Just wondering, do screen sizes & distance from screen matter materially e.g. is it acutely worse for screen time effects if using a phone as compared to say a Tv at a distance OR working late on a desktop monitor?

[@GlennOrSomething]

This feels like a half answered question unless I’m missing something

[@branchyapple]

Why is this a problem? I just play pokemon on my phone, put it away and i just fall to sleep instantly when i want to sleep... getting 7hours+ of sleep and then waking up without sun light. why is this a problem?

[@fuzzydark1395]

Good morning. Great content, thanks for the info.

[@SamsonOng]

Question: does installing a bright cool light that blasts into your face in the morning helps? I do find myself having perfect sleep cycles when I'm overseas with full windows without curtains

[@benedixtify]

I'm watching this at night in bed, and adjusting my phone as the video goes along

[@chriswhorror6658]

I turn off the blue light 7pm to 7am. Were I work i basically do nothing so I’m constantly on my phone. I get bad headaches.

[@rinchin0]

I swear to god once i was scrolling Instagram reels and then i realised i was dreaming

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

The irony of uploading this to a service that intentionally uses emotionally and behaviourally manipulative algorithms to keep people watching their screens, no matter what…

[@EveloGrave]

5:12 AM about to go to sleep. I like the night shift personally. I hate sunlight.

[@teqkilla]

Trying to watch this in bed and the constant light changes from a dark frame to a white research paper, I can’t

[@nafisaaptekar4508]

Thank you great info Thank you Rohan

[@jamieldomasig]

Great video!

[@thilinaalagiyawanna3680]

Thanks

[@aneru9396]

For those wondering, yes, they do answer the question whether or not Night Shift Works.

[@roystonboodoo7525]

Calm vocals and scientific knowledge shared is appreciated.

[@sociologica4247]

As most women I know, my melotonin is broken and sleep is horrible and my brain does not get its night!!! not even with melatonin supplement... so great... Led make it worst 😥

[@prag_un]

this video is a good example of talking a lot without saying much

[@neutral.chaotic]

Personally the lack of uv sunlight makes me more alert and awake. Daytime is for sleepies when brain make yawn chemicals. At least thats how my brain has always worked. (Chronic insomniac since 5 yrs old, had multiple sleep studies as a kid)

[@susheelrangappa8965]

My work shift is from 12 pm to 9 pm. So, me being a movie buff, If I have to avoid watching a screen for longer time, that means I shouldn't watch a movie at night on weekdays? Of course, I don't like watching something before 12 pm because the daylight is very strong and isn't suitable for the movie watching experience. So, it's just weekends then?

[@SebopeThapelo]

I enjoy eye comforter and dark mode, they help me a lot

[@MassimoRough]

But what do I have to do if I live in the circadian rhythm of a shooting star?

[@thetimeisrite]

It is significantly harder for me to go to sleep if I don't use my phone. It helps me relax and quiet my mind.

[@vineeththalapaneni]

Watching this during dengue 😢

[@Bobodododo]

If you keep your phone on max brightness at night you don’t deserve sleep

[@Unnatural09]

I don't really get time to use my phone until I'm in bed. I've noticed that I look forward to it so I have had to force myself to a limit of an hour until the little one is asleep.

[@AshishSharma-rv8mz]

Which application you use for creating these animations. Please do tell.

[@kushalsaitia971]

very well, should see this while trying to go sleep