Want to beat Monday blues? TikTok's work culture trend, Bare Minimum Mondays, might've answers

Bare Minimum Mondays, a work culture trend created and advocated by TikTok creator and startup founder Marisa Jo Mayes, is the latest employee trend that is gaining traction online. It promotes the idea of easing into the week by doing as little as possible on Mondays and beating the "Sunday scaries". Much like another TikTok trend called Quiet quitting, Bare Minimum Mondays encourages people to just do enough to get by rather than stressing over post-weekend productivity. In short, it stands for prioritisingself-care and mental health before delving into big tasks.

What's the backstory?

Marisa used to work in medical-device sales in 2020. After feeling miserable and burned out for days at the time, she decided to quit her job and give self-employment a whirl. At first, she thought the problem was her boss or the work culture in corporate America. But, she soon realised that she had a "hustle culture" problem anda perfectionism problem. She was still approaching work the same way she did in her corporate job. The result was that she was swirling into a constant cycle of stress and burnout.

"I'd feel bad because I was so burned out I couldn't do anything. So I'd make an insanely long to-do list for Mondays with the hope of overachieving my way back to feeling good about myself and how much I was getting done," Marisa, who popularised the phrase, told The New York Post.

"Every week, the 'Sunday scaries' would hit, and every Monday, I'd sleep in until the absolute last second because I knew that list was waiting for me. The pressure I was putting on myself was paralysing, and I realised something had to change."

So, one day she decided to do the absolute bare minimum for work. And, according to her, it worked like magic. "I felt better. I wasn't overwhelmed, and I actually got more done than I expected," she shared.

Now, on Mondays, she doesn't schedule meetings. For the first two hours, she does little to nothing. Then she starts with some reading, some journaling, and doing some house chores. "It's two hours of no technology — no checking email — just doing whatever I need to do to feel good starting my day," she shared.

Around 10, she starts focusing on creative work for her brand, before breaking for lunch at 11. After that, the next two hours are solely for completing her "main work tasks".

"I'm not multitasking, I'm not distracted, I'm not on my phone. If I'm not done after that, I'll do another hour, but it's usually no more than that," Marisa continued. "My Monday workday is shorter but because it's really focused work, I get the same amount done as my old eight-hour workdays."

"Bare minimum Mondayshas completely overhauled my relationship with productivity and work and how I think about myself.And the trend should be seen as an opportunity for people to start untethering themselves from hustle culture, little by little, until corporate America catches up. The tide is turning, and I feel like employees are tired of trading their well-being to perform well at work," the TikTok creator concluded.

Is it a well-being technique?

Melbourne author and LinkedIn specialist Sue Ellson also shared her thoughts on the trend. She said that the concept is a "well-being technique". "It is not worth burning out and being incapable the following day. In my view, it is far better to work fewer hours at 80-90 per cent effectiveness and allow your body to rest and recover," Ellson told Daily Mail.

Ellson said that the concept was a great idea to avoid burning out over time and recommended changing the work environment if possible. She suggested working remotely from a library or co-sharing space for extra motivation.

"Instead of working from home, go to the library with your laptop and talk to the librarian about your work goals – they are a wealth of knowledge and can help you find great solutions. If you have a local co-working space, consider going there on a Monday if you need a bit of extra motivation and would like to have something to look forward to doing differently on Mondays and being around other people,"Ellson added.

The other view!

Now, even though the concept may be great for entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals, it is pretty flawed for employees such as journalists, bankers,teachers, baristas and tradespeople. Because most action happens on Mondays in the corporate world.

And, many believe that soon employees will not just be competingwith each other but also with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT. So, everyone needs to buckle up and strive for the best.

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