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0:00 · The screens
Ten o'clock at night. The house is dark, but the screens are still glowing.
Ten at night at home: the lamps are off and only the screens are still lit.
Watch this passage (0:00) →Episode 22:00 Online
The screens
Online · version of 03.10.2026 · on our channels on 14.11.2026
The 24 Hours
Paper instead of a screen in the evening. A clearer head the next day.
It is ten at night and in the house only the screens are still lit. Reading on a backlit screen before sleep is not the same as reading on paper. Chang and colleagues compared the two in the laboratory in the hours before sleep: those reading on the screen took longer to fall asleep, felt less sleepy in the evening and had reduced melatonin secretion. Their circadian clock ran phase-delayed and their alertness was lower the next morning. The evening is not what pays: next-morning alertness does. Switching the screen off earlier is already a driving choice.
In the video
- 0:00The screens
0:07Screen or paper
0:14The laboratory
0:22The next morning
0:29The day after
0:36The message
Details 50 s · 9:16 · four languages · generated images, voice and music, declared as such · 2026-10-03 · Drive Awake
What helps
If the screen cannot go, it can be dimmed: brightness at minimum, screen far from the eyes, and the last half hour on paper. What you lose is not the evening, it is the clarity of the next morning, which is also the clarity you drive with. The alarm, meanwhile, stays where it is.
The video explained
5 scenes, with notes and sources
0:07 · Screen or paper
Reading from a screen before bed isn't the same as reading a book.
Reading on a backlit screen before sleep is not the same as reading on paper. The difference is not in the text.
Watch this passage (0:07) →
0:14 · The laboratory
In the lab, those readers fell asleep later and had lower melatonin levels.
Chang and colleagues, 2015: a laboratory comparison between reading a backlit e-book and reading a paper book in the hours before sleep. Those reading on the screen took longer to fall asleep, felt less sleepy in the evening and had reduced melatonin secretion.
Watch this passage (0:14) →
0:22 · The next morning
Their body clock shifted, leaving them less alert the following morning.
In the same study the circadian clock ran phase-delayed and next-morning alertness was lower. The bill moves to the following day.
Watch this passage (0:22) →
0:29 · The day after
Lose sleep in the evening and you'll feel it at the wheel the next day.
The evening is not what pays: the next day at the wheel does. The road gets what the evening took away.
Watch this passage (0:29) →The text, in all four languages
6 lines
The same lines you see in the video, side by side. This is where the gaps between languages show: a turn of phrase that does not hold, a word out of place, a figure that changes weight. If you find one, the button next to the line opens the report with hour, language and minute already filled in. All episodes on one page →
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line 1 0:01
IT
Le dieci di sera. In casa restano accesi solo gli schermi.
FR
Dix heures du soir. Au salon, seuls les écrans restent allumés.
DE
Zehn Uhr abends. Im Haus leuchten nur noch die Bildschirme.
EN
Ten o'clock at night. The house is dark, but the screens are still glowing.
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line 2 0:08
IT
Leggere su uno schermo luminoso prima di dormire non è come leggere su carta.
FR
Lire sur un écran lumineux avant de dormir, ce n'est pas comme lire sur papier.
DE
Vor dem Schlafen auf einem leuchtenden Bildschirm zu lesen ist nicht dasselbe wie auf Papier.
EN
Reading from a screen before bed isn't the same as reading a book.
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line 3 0:14
IT
In laboratorio chi leggeva così prendeva sonno più tardi e aveva meno melatonina in circolo.
FR
En laboratoire, ceux qui lisaient ainsi trouvaient le sommeil plus tard et avaient moins de mélatonine.
DE
Im Labor schlief, wer so las, später ein und hatte weniger Melatonin im Blut.
EN
In the lab, those readers fell asleep later and had lower melatonin levels.
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line 4 0:23
IT
L'orologio interno slittava, e il mattino dopo erano meno vigili.
FR
L'horloge interne se décalait, et le lendemain matin ils étaient moins alertes.
DE
Die innere Uhr verschob sich, und am Morgen darauf war man weniger wach.
EN
Their body clock shifted, leaving them less alert the following morning.
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line 5 0:30
IT
Il sonno perso la sera si sente il giorno dopo, al volante.
FR
Le sommeil perdu le soir se fait sentir le lendemain, au volant.
DE
Den Schlaf, der am Abend fehlt, spürt man am nächsten Tag am Steuer.
EN
Lose sleep in the evening and you'll feel it at the wheel the next day.
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line 6 0:37
IT
Carta invece di schermo, la sera. Domani la testa è più sveglia.
FR
Du papier plutôt qu'un écran, le soir. Demain, la tête est plus claire.
DE
Abends Papier statt Bildschirm. Morgen ist der Kopf wacher.
EN
Paper instead of a screen in the evening. A clearer head the next day.
Transcript
- 0:02 Ten o'clock at night. The house is dark, but the screens are still glowing.
- 0:08 Reading from a screen before bed isn't the same as reading a book.
- 0:15 In the lab, those readers fell asleep later and had lower melatonin levels.
- 0:24 Their body clock shifted, leaving them less alert the following morning.
- 0:30 Lose sleep in the evening and you'll feel it at the wheel the next day.
- 0:37 Paper instead of a screen in the evening. A clearer head the next day.
A question about this hour · 22:00
What do you usually do in the last hour before sleep? And how do you generally feel in the morning?
There is no right answer: we are interested in the experience of people who drive, including for work.
The conversations happen on our channels. When there is one about this hour, we will link to it here.
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Online · always open to reports
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Tell us what you noticed
We read every message. If it becomes a correction, the text changes here on the site and goes into the episode's diary, with its date and its reason. Corrections already made →
Sources
- Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. PNAS 2015;112(4):1232-1237. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1418490112 laboratory
2026-10-03 · Drive Awake