Facilitator Course | Santa Clara, CA | 15-16 Sep 2026 🇺🇸
We are preparing for our first Facilitator Course in the USA! It will take place in collaboration with Santa Clara University, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Digital wellbeing trainingbacked by 10+ years ofOxford research
Give your students and staff the skills they need to focus — and boost mental health and productivity at your institution
+58%
ability to focus
after a single session
1.5+ hrs/day
saved time
per participant
Trusted by leading universities, schools, and organisations
and 25+ moreUniversity of Oxford MPLS Social Impact Award2024 Winner
Better device habits for...
Digital focus tools
Practical tools, not just advice
Our open-source digital focus tools, and large, curated selection of solutions supported by research, make it easy and safe to redesign your digital life.
Focus
Digital Habits
For when addictive features steal your attention. Our tool to change websites or apps with one click (e.g. hide feeds, Shorts, Reels, ...).
Blocker
Digital Habits
For when there's just too much pulling at your attention. Our tool for blocking distracting apps and websites to create space for focus.
To-Do
Digital Habits
For those of us who can't stop rabbitholing. Our simple to-do app that keeps your current task visible while you work.
Phone-Free 2FA
Digital Habits
For those who just want to put their phone away. Our simple and secure browser extension that lets you use your computer for 2FA.
Digital Habits
For everyone who's quietly given up on email. Our minimalistic client that shows email threads as chats and lets you focus on one at a time.
And more
We keep a large, curated library of effective tools from across the ecosystem — each one weighed against the research.
Browse the tool libraryA blueprint for change
How it works
The are hundreds of digital focus tools to create the digital life we want. It's overwhelming to find the right ones. We help your students and staff to:
- 1
Reflect
Identify digital challenges and goals in work and personal life.
- 2
Explore
Discover digital focus tools and strategies tailored to individual needs.
- 3
Implement
Set up chosen solutions right away. Leave with a changed phone and a changed mindset.
From good intentions to new digital habits
Our training sessions make it easy and safe to create the digital life you want, thanks to reminders from your past self, hands-on support from our experts in our Help! Café, and data-driven insights in your personal Digital Thriving Report.
Reminders from your past self
Delivered back when they matter most.
Hands-on support
Live assistance from our experts in the Help! Café.
Data-driven insights
See what worked in your Digital Thriving Report.
RESEARCH-POWERED
Based on our award-winning research & engineering
Our training sessions and digital focus tools are based on our analyses of 650+ digital focus tools, 54,000+ user reviews, and 250+ interviews, and our decades of experience building open-source software used by 130,000+ people around the world.
The training format is based on continuous learning from 300+ training sessions at 30+ universities, schools, and organisations, and best practices in behaviour change.
650+ tools
54K+ reviews
250+ interviews
130K+ users
Live training session
Distilled insights
What people say
“The Reduce Digital Distraction workshops are one of the most impactful wellbeing interventions I have encountered. As both a participant and facilitator, I have been inspired by the tangible impact it has on the communities universities serve.”
Jozef Sen
Head of Counselling Services, University of Leeds
“It's important to emphasise how game-changing the Reduce Digital Distraction workshops are: So many students have tried and failed to tackle the digital distraction problem with willpower alone.”
Dr. Melissa Barkan
Deputy Head of Counselling, University of Oxford
“We've had fabulous feedback! We'd like to offer training sessions in better digital habits to all staff and students at a regular basis.”
Dr. Ford Hickson
Associate Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
“The ReDD workshop is one of the most useful webinars I have ever attended in my career! I now find that I can sit and focus on things that tested me before, like report-writing, and I can get off my phone of an evening and do something more valuable to me.”
Harriet
University of Oxford staff, workshop participant
“I found the workshop revelatory. I finally felt that I have the tools to control these urges that are coming on and my habits that I consider unhealthy. (...) I felt really motivated to change how I feel about social media and to change how I work.”
Philippa
Oxford University student, workshop participant
“It was extremely helpful... it made me feel like I wasn't alone and that I'm not the only one in this situation.”
Tina
University of Warwick student, workshop participant
“I thought the session was awesome and I've bookmarked the tools page to try more in future (...) I would highly recommend the session to anyone looking to make their screen time work better for them!”
Lucy
University of Oxford staff, workshop participant
“After the digital distraction workshop, I've started using my time better and my devices more thoughtfully (...) Using my phone has started to feel less and less like a habit, and I can finally sit in silence without the need to check my devices.”
Maria
Oxford University student, workshop participant
“This was a masterclass on running online training. Really impressed, and grateful for the tools.”
Anna
Oxford University staff, workshop participant
“It wasn't a 'you can do it' coach vibe, it was a human and light approach towards new possibilities based on how we individually are. Thank you very much!”
Miriam
Oxford University staff, workshop participant
“The workshop was fantastic! I keep recommending the ReDD Website to my friends and will continue to do so. Ulrik and Maureen's team are doing a stellar job in educating participants and tailoring the workshop to their individual needs”
Frances
Oxford University Student, workshop participant
Talk with us
Happy to answer any questions about bringing better digital habits to your organisation — grab a slot, or join the monthly info & demo.
Info & demo session
The first 15 minutes are an overview and Q&A — feel free to pop in
just for that. Afterwards, stay on for a live demo workshop.
Our story
All news & researchUpcoming events
Facilitator Course | Linacre College, Oxford | 29 Sep - 1 Oct 2026 🇬🇧
We're running our first Facilitator Course in Oxford! It will take place at Linacre College, where Dr Ulrik Lyngs is a Research Fellow. See dates.
Latest news
Renamed to Centre for Digital Habits | Jul 2026
After 7 years, the Reduce Digital Distraction Project is now Centre for Digital Habits — a name that reflects not only helping people cut distraction, but actively building the digital habits they want.
Conference | AMOSSHE | Jul 2026
Dr Ulrik Lyngs ran hands-on workshops about digital distraction, and AI & vibe coding, at the 2026 AMOSSHE conference for leaders of Student Services in higher education.
Panel | CPDP, Brussels | May 2026
Dr Ulrik Lyngs spoke on Thursday, 21 May on the panel "Get out of my feed!": Child-centered strategies to enhance well-being and agency on social media at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference in Brussels.
Our story
In May 2019, Dr Ulrik Lyngs & Maureen Freed gathered 8 students in a dusty seminar room at an Oxford college with an ambitious goal: to help them regain control over their digital lives. What began as Ulrik‘s PhD research into digital distraction was evolving into the Reduce Digital Distraction Workshop, a practical intervention to empower anyone to tailor their devices for productivity, wellbeing, and a balanced life.
From those humble beginnings, the ReDD Project grew organically through word-of-mouth and genuine need. We refined our approach through 250+ workshops, and published rigorous research showing that it works. Today, as the Centre for Digital Habits, any organisation can train their own facilitators, enabling anyone to redesign digital life to meet their needs.
Workshop in 2024 at Sheffield Hallam University, UK
- 2016Foundational researchUlrik starts his computer science PhD at the University of Oxford with Sir Nigel Shadbolt. He explores how digital devices can support self-regulation by design.
- 2019From early concept to routine deliveryUlrik & Maureen pilot an early prototype of the ReDD Workshop at Oxford colleges. By late 2021, ReDD is the most popular workshop ever offered at the University of Oxford Counselling Service.
- 2022Exploring new formats & audiencesPilots of large-scale workshops (up to ~80 participants) at Mahidol University in Thailand, workshops for high schools in Denmark, and for university staff in Oxford.
- 2023SepFirst evaluation submitted for publicationInsights from the ReDD workshops published at the ACM CHI Conference (thanks to 280 students who shared their data for research purposes), winning a Best Paper Honourable Mention.
- 2023Sep
Towards impact at scale: UK-wide pilotsEPSRC-funding supported pilot workshops at the universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews, Warwick, Sheffield Hallam, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. - 2024JunOxford University's MPLS Early Career Social Impact AwardThe ReDD Project is one of the winners at the 2024 MPLS Impact Awards, which recognizes outstanding contributions to society from early-career researchers.
- 2024NovFirst facilitator courseIn collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, the launch of a Facilitator Course makes ReDD truly scalable via a train-the-trainer model.
- 2026JulRenamed to Centre for Digital HabitsAfter 7 years, the Reduce Digital Distraction Project is now Centre for Digital Habits — a name that reflects not only helping people cut distraction, but actively building the digital habits they want.
Team
Creators
Dr Ulrik Lyngs
Research Fellow, University of Oxford
Denmark's national Media Council for Children & Youth
Maureen Freed
Psychotherapist & mental health consultant, previously Deputy Head of Counselling, University of Oxford
Dr Konrad Kollnig
Professor at Maastricht University's Law & Tech Lab, and developer of TrackerControl (200k+ downloads)
Roxane Maar
Serial tech venture founder, board member at North Zealand International School, and formerly at the UN.
Research assistants
Tiago Costa
First Class BA Experimental
Psychology Graduate from
University of Oxford
Ena Heide Poulsen
MSci in Psychology & Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and previously CMO at WeFocus.
Advisors & Collaborators
Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, FRS FREng FBCS
Head of the Human Centred Computing group, University of Oxford
Dr Laura Alessandretti
Associate Professor at Section for Cognitive Systems, Technical University of Denmark
