What’s behind ‘bare minimum Mondays’?

There are young people advocating for what they call “bare minimum Mondays.” Coined by content creator Marisa Jo Mayes, the aim is to adopt a slower Monday pace by only doing the least amount of work possible. For Mayes, this means turning down Monday morning meetings and limiting her work for the day to just three important tasks. She claims this approach allows her to ease into the work week rather than being immediately stressed out on the first day.

As of writing, the hashtag #bareminimummondays already has 2.9 million views on TikTok. It joins a host of other viral buzzwords that run counter to more traditional workplace narratives of productivity and achievement. Just last year, there was much discussion on “quiet quitting” and how employees are choosing to disengage from their work rather than being motivated to excel.

While the terms are new, the pushback is not. According to the World Health Organization, burnout is characterized by three dimensions: feelings of exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. Burnout is a well-studied phenomenon that has been backed by scientific research dating back to the 1970s. And yet, many older people are quick to reduce these work trends as evidence of entitlement and lack of grit and resilience among younger generations. Perhaps it would be more helpful to see them as some of the ways that young people are doing to try to gain a sense of control over their experiences of work dissatisfaction.

Philippine employers need to pay attention. A 2022 Deloitte study found that rates of burnout among young Filipinos are significantly higher compared to other countries. Seventy percent of Filipino Gen Zs and 63 percent of millennials said they are experiencing work-related burnout versus the global average of 45 percent. More than half (58 percent) of the local respondents also claimed that many of their colleagues recently resigned due to work stress.

The first step to tackling the problem of burnout is to acknowledge that it exists and that it warrants serious action and earnest solutions. Burnout is harmful and costly for all parties involved: It threatens a person’s health and impairs the ability to function, while the resulting high employee turnover and productivity loss negatively impact organizational culture and the bottom line.

The second step is understanding its root causes. Dr. Christina Maslach, UC Berkley professor and pioneering researcher on occupational burnout, found six key drivers: unmanageable workload, perceived lack of autonomy over their work, lack of recognition for a good performance, poor working relationships, perceived unfairness of policies, and misalignment with company values. Instead of adding new employee wellness programs, which could actually lead to more work and reduced personal time, Maslach suggests focusing first on identifying and addressing chronic stressors. This includes doing an honest assessment of the work culture and changing norms and expectations that could be detrimental to employee well-being. Commonly cited practices are late-night meetings and the pressure to immediately respond to after-hour emails. While these may be acceptable as occasional asks, they should not be adopted as a constant way of working.

There is an important caveat with respect to discussions around burnout: Employees must also practice self-awareness and objectively evaluate how they could be contributing to their own physical and emotional exhaustion. For example, we live in an era of side hustles and individuals usually have additional pursuits either as a source of extra income or creative self-expression. Employees must be responsible enough to manage their own bandwidth, so as not to compromise their ability to deliver at work. A healthy workplace is one built on mutual respect and accountability, and employees also play a crucial role in shaping that culture.

Annoying name aside, I appreciate how bare minimum Mondays sparked a discussion on what constitutes a reasonable and balanced workload. Personally, I believe it is counterproductive to have overly packed Mondays if it means inadvertently pressuring my team to use their weekends to work instead of resting. Even I prefer to use my Monday mornings to recalibrate and to think strategically about my week, rather than being flooded with meetings. The resulting discourse also served as a good reminder that part of our role as managers is to teach and guide junior employees how to work smarter, how to set healthy boundaries, and how to effectively communicate the kind of support they need.

Young people want work that’s purposeful and challenging, but one that does not come at the expense of their health and well-being. They should be commended, not penalized, for voicing it out.

eleanor@shetalksasia.com