If you adopt one habit in 2024, let it be the introduction of ‘untouchable days’ into your 2024 calendar.

Having a day each week with no texts, emails, or phone calls, and absolutely no meetings for a whole day (in other words, no distractions) - so you can produce your finest, most focused work. It sounds most appealing.

I can almost hear the scoffing. How realistic is that? Or just another productivity theorem? Read on to learn more about how it could work.

Why implement this into your life?

An ‘untouchable day’ means you shut out everything and everyone to focus exclusively on the project at hand. You are unreachable for one day, which means eight (or more) hours of uninterrupted, deep focus work.

First you need to make a commitment to this concept. Your phone is off, your email app is closed, notifications are on mute and your diary is locked out in advance so it can be clear of meetings for the whole day. In other words, you remove distractions to allow your brain to perform at its best. In return you are rewarded with:

Boosted creativity
Increased productivity
On time delivery
Enhanced quality output
A more satisfying result

According to research, after you’ve been distracted by switching back and forth between tasks, emails, calls or a quick informal meeting, it can take up to 23 minutes to regain the same level of focus.

Other research shows that people are more productive when they methodically finish one task before moving on to the next rather than trying to juggle multiple activities, or multi-task. Flitting between one thing and the next, leaves a residue of our attention in the last task, making it more challenging to focus on the current task; this is known as “attention residue”.

How to implement untouchable days

As an already over-stretched professional with a punishing schedule, you’ll no doubt struggle to see how to fit in an ‘untouchable day’ to your schedule at all, let alone on a weekly basis.

Consider it Done’s founder, Sue Reeve, has experimented with ‘untouchable days’, and here are her observations:

Schedule well ahead

The sooner you schedule your ‘untouchable days’, the better. I recommend scheduling them at least 3 months in advance, because this will allow you to choose days which are currently clear and avoid pre-committed day/month/quarter events. HBR suggests 16 weeks ahead [LINK] Whatever the right planning lead time for you, the important thing is the day is closed out to meetings and commitments so you really can schedule yourself as busy and unreachable for the whole day. There may be a certain amount of trial and error to land on the ideal timing. Perhaps weekly is too much initially and you can introduce them more slowly with monthly or fortnightly untouchable days. Perhaps they can’t always be on the same day of the week, no problem.

2. Let other people know and encourage them to do the same

The people you work most closely with need to be up to speed with your untouchable day strategy so that they respect it and give you the space you need. If they have visibility of your plan for the day, and afterwards see the incredible output you’ve generated, they will be onboard quickly. If you empower them to follow suit (perhaps choosing the same untouchable day as you) it could become a powerful ripple effect across your team. For your wider network without access to your calendar who may be expecting to hear from you same day, a politely worded OOO message will manage their expectations and for callers, use your phone’s pre-worded text replies to respond to them when you ‘busy’ the call, or customise your VM messaging. You’ll find the right solutions that work with your tech.

3. Commit

It is really easy for the time you carefully assigned as untouchable 3 months ago to be ‘nibbled at’. When the day arrives there will always be some sort of important priority going on. Someone just needs a quick call, or 5 minutes with you. How about lunchtime, you’ll surely be taking a break? What about emergencies?

This moment is a great test for your team. Allow them to step up and make judgements over things they would otherwise have come to you about. If you’ve planned your untouchable day in advance, then you may already have had the chance to handover some key activities to your team beforehand. If they themselves benefit from untouchable days, they are also more likely to be happy to support you and take up any slack. Because in reality, crisis moments are rarely the kind of humdingers that can’t be handled. On your side, you will need to trust them to make the right call, and leave them to it.

Step back in the day after your untouchable day to update your team with your progress, and there is a good chance you’ll find them stronger, more empowered and more confident having had your belief in them to manage things in your absence.

If your 2024 diary is already looking full, Consider it Done’s team of virtual PAs can provide you with a lifeline. With over 20 years of experience, we can take care of your home-life, allowing you to remain focused at work and carve out those all-important ‘untouchable days’. Contact us to find out more now.

Introducing untouchable days: a game-changer for your 2024 diary