Just Another Manic (Bare Minimum) Monday? by Marc LeVine

“If you do the bare minimum, expect bare minimum results. You want to be great, work to be great. Nothing just happens.” — J. J. Watt

Burnout comes in many forms and before it is recognized as such, symptoms may develop pointing to it as a cause for concern to others and us.?In fact, we may be suffering early symptoms of burnout and not even know it.

It used to be that burnout clearly emerged as an undeniable feeling that doing whatever we got tired of doing simply meant that it was time for change. ?Burnout never beat around the bush with us. Its message was always clear. We woke up one morning no longer wanting to go to school or work, because we couldn’t bear another day of boredom, stress, bullying and general unhappiness.

These days, many have discovered ways to “Quietly Quit” their jobs. Many show up just to collect a paycheck and make it through to the next weekend.?Perhaps, these so-called quiet quitters have always been cheating the system (and themselves). Nothing really new here. Quiet Quitting is only a different way to refer to the same old excuses that have always been used to account for burnout without having to admit it to ourselves and others? In fact, Quiet Quitting used to be referred to "Quit and Stay."

What may be new here is that we are now recognizing that burnout has several differentiations, stages and masked strategies designed to fool those around us including our teachers and bosses - and even ourselves.

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One of the latest strategies to fall under Quiet Quitting is being called “Bare Minimum Mondays (BMM)." ?BMM is a workplace trend in which some employees plan to do their least possible work on Mondays. This is to avoid burnout during the remaining workdays. It is supposed to give them an opportunity to focus on themselves and get into the right mindset before actually starting to work harder on Tuesdays. Monday is largely written off as a day to adjust and prepare.

BMM was coined by TikTok content creator Maris Mayes, who said the idea is to ease into the work week by prioritizing self-care over productivity on Mondays. So - YES - BMM is a real thing! But, maybe not the best of things.

So now a clear symptom of burnout has a name. "Bare Minimum Mondays." But how many of us have for years attempted to keep a low profile at work just prior to going on vacation, for example??You know exactly what I mean.?Perhaps you tried to put off those big projects and consequential meetings that required a whole lot of extra time, effort and emotion until you returned from your vacation??You most likely wanted to coast through those few pre-vacation days and hop on the plane to paradise without having to gut through a rough week ahead.

BMM takes that approach weekly and essentially creates the 4-day workweek with the 5th day reporting to the office to do limited to no work. Seems a bit odd.

If you are currently taking this BMM approach, give a little more thought to the justification and reasoning for doing so.?It is doubtful that this behavioral choice will be embraced by most employers as a new and acceptable trend for this decade alongside of working from home and remote working.?Instead, it will likely be seen as a repackaging of the symptoms of burnout and frowned upon as an unacceptable excuse for lack of effort and productivity.

If you are advocating for “Bare Minimum Mondays” and for all the wrong reasons, you may need to confront your burnout and deal with its root causes on your own or seek professional help.??BMM is likely not justifiable or sustainable in the world of employment.

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The Author

My Recent Interview on “Engineering Success”

Marc LeVine is a graduate of Syracuse (NY) University with a degree in Industrial Psychology, Marc is currently Talent Acquisitions and Learning and Development Lead at Thermo Systems. He is the recipient of the Excellence in Talent Acquisitions Award from HR Awards in 2021.

Marc's prior employment includes senior Human Resources and Staffing Industry management roles with Edgewood Properties in Piscataway, NJ, Brickforce Staffing in Edison, NJ, InfoPro Inc. in Woodbridge NJ and Plainsboro, NJ and Harvard Industries in Farmingdale, NJ, a former Fortune 500 company. He also served as Director of Human Resources for New Jersey Press, the parent company of the Asbury Park Press, Home News and Tribune and WKXW-NJ101.5. Earlier in his career, Marc served as Director of Career Services and Placement at Union Technical Institute in Eatontown and Neptune, NJ. In addition, Marc owned and operated Integrity Consulting Associates, a New Jersey based Human Resources and Social Media Marketing firm for 11 years. Marc also served as Council President in his hometown of Freehold Borough, NJ