Digital wellbeing and healthy screen use at work

For employees and managers in screen-heavy and hybrid jobs: cut digital overload, protect focus, eyes and sleep, and agree on healthier team norms.

For: All employees, especially heavy screen users and hybrid or remote workers, and the managers who set team norms

  • 2 contact hours
  • 6 modules
  • 7 interactives
  • 4 job aids
  • Updated October 11, 2026

What you will be able to do

  • Explain what digital wellbeing means at work, summarize the evidence linking always-on work to stress and safety, and distinguish organizational from individual solutions and legal requirements from good practice.
  • Apply notification, batching and focus-time strategies to reduce interruptions, and recognize digital presenteeism.
  • Reduce video-call fatigue and digital eye strain through meeting design, camera norms, regular breaks and workstation basics.
  • Protect sleep and set workable boundaries in hybrid and after-hours work, including time zones and the FLSA hours-worked rule for nonexempt employees.
  • Use attention-respecting email and chat habits, build and maintain a team digital agreement, describe the manager's role and create a personal digital wellbeing plan.

Learn practical, evidence-informed ways to manage notification overload, protect deep work, reduce video-call fatigue and eye strain, guard your sleep and set boundaries that hold in hybrid work. You will build a personal plan and a team digital agreement you can put to use right away.

Designed for anyone whose workday runs through email, chat and video calls, and for managers, who shape team norms more than anyone else. Realistic scenarios from US workplaces show what always-on culture looks like and what changes actually help.

Grounded in the US Surgeon General's Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being and NIOSH's Total Worker Health approach, the course treats digital wellbeing as a work-design issue, not a personal failing. It also explains the one legal point many people miss: after-hours work can be paid time for nonexempt employees.

What you’ll be able to do Monday morning

  1. Turn off non-urgent notifications and block two focus periods this week.
  2. Set 25- and 50-minute meeting defaults and hide self-view on video calls.
  3. Take a five-minute screen break each hour and use the 20-20-20 rule.
  4. Schedule-send any message that would land outside a coworker's working hours.
  5. Start a shutdown routine and charge your phone outside the bedroom.
  6. Propose three norms for a team digital agreement.

Curriculum

6 modules · 24 lessons · about 2 contact hours

01What is digital wellbeing, and why does it matter at work?Free preview13 min
  1. What do we mean by digital wellbeing?
  2. What does the evidence say about work, screens and wellbeing?
  3. Whose job is digital wellbeing?
  4. What is law, and what is good practice?
  • Sort activity: Organizational or individual action?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

02How do notifications and always-on culture affect focus?14 min
  1. Why are interruptions so costly?
  2. How do I tame my notifications?
  3. What is digital presenteeism?
  4. How do I protect time for deep work?
  • Spot the issue: Spot the focus killers in this workday

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

03Why are video calls so tiring, and what helps?14 min
  1. What makes video calls tiring?
  2. How can teams design better meetings?
  3. How do I reduce eye strain during a screen-heavy day?
  4. How do breaks fit into the workday?
  • Matching activity: Match the cause to the fix

Diagram · In practice checklist · 3-question knowledge check

04How do I protect sleep and set boundaries in hybrid and after-hours work?15 min
  1. What does the evidence say about screens and sleep?
  2. How do I set boundaries that actually hold?
  3. Does after-hours work count as paid time?
  4. How do time zones and flexible schedules change things?
  • Decision tree: Should this message go out after hours?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

05How can email and chat habits protect everyone's wellbeing?14 min
  1. What habits respect other people's attention?
  2. What are reasonable response-time expectations?
  3. What is a team digital agreement?
  4. How do we keep the agreement alive?
  • Spot the issue: Spot the problems in a draft team agreement

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

06What is the manager's role, and what is my personal plan?14 min
  1. What can managers do?
  2. What if someone seems to be struggling?
  3. How do I build my personal digital wellbeing plan?
  4. Bringing it together
  • Branching scenario: The project that never sleeps
  • Self-assessment: How healthy are my digital habits?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

Final assessment: 23 questions, 70% to pass, then your certificate

Try it now, no account needed

The project that never sleeps

A branching scenario from this course. Your choices are not saved.

Free sample activity

The project that never sleeps

You manage a cross-time-zone project team. One team member, a field rep, tells you he has not had a full day off in four months and dreads opening his laptop.

Inside the course

Practice activities

  • Sort activity1
  • Spot the issue2
  • Matching activity1
  • Decision tree1
  • Branching scenario1
  • Self-assessment1

Job aids you keep

  • Digital Wellbeing ChecklistChecklist
  • Team Digital Agreement TemplateTemplate
  • Personal Plan and Scenario WorksheetWorksheet
  • Healthy Screen Use Quick ReferencePocket card

Credit and approval status

Certificate of completion

This course awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or continuing education accreditor. Check with your employer or professional body whether it fits your training or wellbeing program.

We may pursue review under IACET-aligned continuing education processes in the future. No such approval exists today; the course page will show an approval only after it is granted.

Our full approvals list

Questions about this course

Who should take this course?

Anyone whose work runs through email, chat and video calls, especially hybrid and remote workers, and managers who set team norms. It is practical for individual contributors and includes a manager section on workload, expectations and supporting someone who is struggling. No technical knowledge is needed.

Is this a mental health course?

No. It focuses on how digital work habits and team norms affect focus, comfort, sleep and stress. It points to support such as an Employee Assistance Program and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, but it does not diagnose or treat any condition. For persistent symptoms, talk to a health professional.

Does US law give me a right to disconnect?

There is no general federal right to ignore work messages outside working hours, and the course notes it is not aware of a state that has enacted one. It does explain the Fair Labor Standards Act rule that after-hours work by nonexempt employees is generally paid time. Your employer's policy and state wage laws may add more; ask HR.

How long does it take, and what do I receive?

Plan on about two hours, including six modules, interactive exercises, knowledge checks and a final assessment. You need 70 percent to pass. You receive a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours, plus a checklist, a team agreement template, a personal plan worksheet and a quick-reference card.

Does it cover workstation ergonomics?

Only briefly, as it relates to eye strain and breaks. Monitor placement, chairs, keyboards and posture are covered in depth in a separate Office Ergonomics course. This course focuses on attention, meetings, boundaries, sleep and team norms.

Is it approved for continuing education credit?

Not at this time. It awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours and is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor. Check with your employer or professional body whether it fits your requirements.

This course is general education and training awareness from CE Courses Hub on digital wellbeing and healthy screen use at work. It is not legal, medical or professional advice and does not replace your employer's policies, your licensing board's rules, or advice from a qualified professional. Completing it earns a certificate of completion for the stated contact hours; it is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor unless an approval is shown on the course page. Check with your board, employer or state agency whether this course meets your specific requirement.