Dodow Hackademy No. 3: I sleep more deeply

01 Oct 2025

It’s because the intense brightness of digital screens disrupts your sleep by confusing your biological clock.

A quick reminder of the steps:

• Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland, a gland in the brain. It is the hormone of falling asleep.

• When it’s dark, your pineal gland thinks night has fallen. This gland quickly produces melatonin, which makes you sleepy.

• When it’s light, your pineal gland thinks it’s daytime. It stops producing melatonin, and you don’t feel like sleeping.

LED screen lighting confuses this mechanism: your brain thinks it’s daytime, and without melatonin, falling asleep is hopeless...!

F.lux, The solution!

A small program originally designed to rest the eyes, F.lux is simple and effective in protecting you from the effects of screens on your sleep.

Once installed, F.lux automatically changes your screen's tint according to natural light. Bluish in the morning, it gradually shifts to ochre (whose wavelength also does not disrupt melatonin production) to ensure maximum eye comfort. You just need to enter your geographic coordinates in the app so it can sync with the solar cycle.

One small downside? It is only available for computers. For Android smartphones, there is Twilight, and for Apple tool users (Mac/iPhones/iPads) there is now the Night Shift mode available directly in the settings: "System Settings"

Dodow itself also emits blue light: but it does not inhibit your melatonin production.

Indeed, with an intensity of only 1 lux (compared to a computer or tablet screen which can range from 160 to 640 lux) and an exposure time of up to 20 minutes, Dodow is perfectly harmless!

What to do if your neighbors suddenly form a Deathmetal band, release a single titled "Vuvuzela and jackhammer", and groupies systematically squat in front of your door screaming?

At this point, moving is not a bad idea. Otherwise, you can also try white noise. :)

White noise against noise pollution

How does it work?

We all have an internal alarm that works unconsciously, even when we sleep. A noise variation (like a dog barking in the distance) triggers this alarm.

The point of white noise is to fool this alarm by masking noise variations with another noise, constant and relatively less disturbing. For scientists, a small study to confirm everything..

Generally, this white noise prevents few people from falling asleep and can even help some.

The different types of white noise

"White noise" is a generic term. There are different types of sounds to help you mask disturbing noises:

Natural sounds: rain, waves, cricket chirps, fireplace...
Machine noises: air conditioning, fans, washing machines...

The best white noise generators

To fall asleep thanks to white noise without breaking the bank, nothing could be easier.

Noisli, for an online and instant generator: fireplace, trains, gusts of wind, fans, busy café... Noisli lets you choose and layer the sounds you like to create your ideal environment, which you can also save and send to your friends by creating an account.
Youtube offers a plethora of white noise videos. They often last several hours, for example this video of a stream in Ireland filmed for 8 hours.
HoomBand is the audio headband designed for sleep. With its ultra-flat headphones hidden under thermoformed foam, Hoom allows you to fall asleep in complete comfort. By purchasing the headband, you also unlock unlimited access to over 20 hours of audio content on the Livlab App mobile application: white noise, soundscapes, immersive stories, role plays, etc... designed by sleep specialists, and regularly updated.