No Interruptions Day is a holiday that encourages people to disconnect from the world for a little while and give themselves a much-needed break. It’s observed on the last workday of the year. Because it falls on or close to New Year’s Eve, it might be hard for some people to take a break from all the pop-ups, alerts, emails, and texts.

For others, it’s the perfect time to keep to oneself. And the really talented people are going to be able to not only observe this holiday but also partake in the New Year festivities coming up.

Facts About Workplace Interruptions

Interruptions at home and work can really kill a person’s productivity. That’s why we’re happy that there’s a holiday that recognizes the importance of taking a momentary break from the rest of the world.

It’s extremely important to take a break from electronic forms of communication. To drive home the importance of taking a break from interruptions, we’ve decided to put down some facts we’ve learned about workplace interruptions below.

Interruptions Can Derail A Work Day

The average worker will spend about 11 minutes on a project before they’re interrupted. However, once they are interrupted, it takes a lot of time for a person to get back to the point of concentration they were at before they were distracted—25 minutes, to be exact.

Workers Who Are Interrupted Often Have Higher Rates Of Exhaustion

If you’re an employer who’s constantly interrupting your workers, then you might want to stop. That’s because several studies have shown that workers who are frequently interrupted have a 9% higher exhaustion rate than workers who are allowed to work uninterrupted.

Interrupted Workers Have Higher Failure Rates

Even if a worker is interrupted for only a few seconds, they’re still likely to experience significant error rates in their work. Studies have shown that even if the employee is interrupted for less than 3 seconds, they will still double their error rates. If the interruption lasts over 4 seconds, then the employee’s error rates triple.

Interruptions Cost The U.S. Economy A Lot Of Money

It’s been estimated that employee interruptions affect energy, work satisfaction, and productivity to such a degree that it costs the U.S. almost $600 billion a year. That’s a lot of money and more than a good enough reason for people to avoid interrupting their employees as much as possible.

Observing No Interruptions Day

If you truly want to observe this holiday, then all you have to do is turn off your cell phone, forget about checking your email, and then spend the rest of the day doing what you want to do. You can spend the day doing a bit of cleaning, or you can watch videos online.

It’s all up to you. When you have completed your self-imposed isolation, be sure to use the hashtag #NoInterruptionsDay and let the rest of us know if you were successful in celebrating No Interruptions Day.