How about a Minimum Viable Day?

Sometimes, you just need to do less to recharge.

It was one of those days. Meetings back-to-back, emails piling up, and my team waiting for decisions I hadn’t had a moment to think about. By 7 PM, I realized I’d been in react mode all day. No time to reflect, no space to breathe. Just treading water.

Frustrated, I stopped and asked myself: What really needed to happen today? Not everything—just the essentials. What was the minimum I could have done to move the needle and still make a meaningful impact?

The question wasn’t easy to answer, but it sparked a shift in perspective. We often believe every day demands everything we’ve got. But the truth is, most of what fills our calendars is just noise—meetings we don’t need to attend, emails that can wait, and decisions that aren’t urgent. What if, instead of chasing an impossible to-do list, we design our days for focus, clarity, and impact?

The answer came from an unlikely source: product development. Rebecca Pendleton, a product director at a tech company, introduced me to the concept of a Minimum Viable Day (MVD). She drew inspiration from the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a principle popularized by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. Ries describes an MVP as:

A version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers, who can then provide feedback for future product development.

The goal of an MVP isn’t perfection—it’s progress. It’s about doing the bare essentials to test an idea, gather feedback, and iterate. It’s lean, focused, and impactful. Rebecca realized that same logic could be applied to overwhelming workdays. What’s the minimum viable day—the version of your day that achieves meaningful progress without burning you out?

This idea hit home. We’ve all had days when we’re not at our best: energy is low, stress is high, and the to-do list feels endless. Pushing through with business-as-usual only leaves us drained and riddled with guilt. Productivity hacks like Pomodoro or “Eat the Frog” just don’t cut it.

Instead, the Minimum Viable Day gives you a way to focus on what matters most—stripping the day down to the essentials so you can keep moving forward without running on empty. In this week’s post, let’s dive into the concept.

The truth is, it isn’t always feasible to take time off and completely unplug when you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed. In fact, missing critical tasks and deadlines could cause even more stress, especially for high performers. Which is why you might end up sitting in front of a screen all day, accomplishing a whole lot of nothing despite your best efforts to power through.

A well-planned MVD, on the other hand, allows you to complete essential tasks while still getting some much-needed rest and recovery. It also removes the guilt of stepping away from work altogether, particularly during high-pressure periods.

In her article on Medium, Pendleton shares the key features of an MVD:

• Delivers some value: Achieve some small things that count as a win. Gain some rest time.?
• Lean: Do the absolute minimum. Prioritization is key.
• Shipped: Do the day and get through it. Don’t give up.?
• Insightful: Use it as a learning exercise. Be curious, even if you don’t feel like doing much else.?

(A quick note: an MVD is recommended for a work slump, meaning when you’re feeling a bit stressed, low-energy and generally “blah”. It is not a solution for true burnout or a mental health challenge. If you’re struggling with these issues, please take time off and reach out to a trusted person for support.)

Plan your Minimum Viable Day (MVD)

An MVD should be simple, slow and low-key—the idea is to “get through the day” with minimal effort. By conserving your personal resources, you can facilitate greater productivity in the days to come.

Here are five suggestions to help you plan a fruitful MVD when you need it:

1. Prioritize your deliverables.

At the heart of a successful MVD is a ruthless prioritization of your to-do’s. Your objective is to do the minimum amount required to keep work on track and prevent disruption.

Pendleton suggests using the MoSCoW method, which stands for “Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have”. Separate your deliverables into these categories and focus on getting only the Must have’s out of the way. Those familiar with the Eisenhower Matrix can organize tasks by urgency and importance. Schedule only Urgent + Important items during your MVD. Your goals may include time-sensitive tasks like sending a few crucial emails, attending a meeting you just can’t miss, or sharing the final version of a presentation before its deadline.

2. Postpone everything else.

Anything that can easily be handled the following day should not be on your MVD agenda. Pendleton suggests the following questions to create clarity:

• What can I do tomorrow/next week, when I have regained my energy?
• Who do I need to be honest with about how I’m feeling today so they can help me move a few things off my plate?
• Who could stand in for me?
• What can be binned off altogether that I shouldn’t have been doing anyway? (This one’s a goodie.)

If you start feeling anxious about when you’ll get to the postponed items, take a few minutes to slot them into your schedule later in the week. This way, you can enjoy your MVD without worrying.

3. Take time for self-care.

Once the essentials are done and dusted, move on to something that makes you feel calm and renews your energy. This is important. It doesn’t have to be long, and it can be anything that works for you. A leisurely walk. An afternoon nap. Your favourite playlist. Ten minutes of meditation. Do at least 1-2 things that qualify as recovery or self-care to make the most of your MVD.

4. Reflect and ponder.

In product development, an MVP yields valuable feedback for future iterations. Taking inspiration from there, it can be useful to make time for reflection. Some of the questions you could ask yourself are:

• Why am I feeling run down? What are 1-2 things that have been draining my energy? Is there something I can do to change this?
• What are the 1-2 things that make me feel peaceful, inspired and recharged? Have I been making enough time for these activities? If not, how can I do so going forward?
• What about the low-priority items I identified today? Do they really need to be on my calendar—or can they be delegated, automated or removed entirely?

5. Go easy on yourself.

An MVD is a chance to catch your breath and slow down—without judging yourself. Give yourself permission to do just enough and no more. You might opt for WFH and stay in your pyjamas all day. You may take a half-day, heading home to rest once your must-dos are completed. If it isn’t possible for you to leave your workplace, try doing something light and non-intensive. If you’re lucky enough to have spaces for relaxation or recreation at the office, make use of them.

Don’t get caught up in tracking your productivity—that’s not the purpose of an MVD. (Similar to how we don’t judge an MVP for not achieving enough!) As productivity consultant Ashley Janssen advises:

Judge the success of your day based on finishing the few things you HAD to do and then just making it to the end of the day. [Reframe] “I didn’t get anything done today” to “I took care of myself today so that I can do better tomorrow”.

A Minimum Viable Day is more than a way to cope with fatigue—it’s a deliberate recalibration of how we approach work. By stripping the day down to its essentials, you’re not stepping back but stepping into a space of clarity and focus. The slowed pace isn’t a compromise; it’s an investment in doing what truly matters. Beyond the immediate relief, an MVD fosters deeper insights: what really drives impact, what can wait, and where your energy is best spent. It’s a moment to reassess and realign, paving the way for a more thoughtful, effective, and sustainable approach.