Following the "quiet quitting" movement in post-COVID workplace culture, the latest trend to hit Millennials is "Bare Minimum Mondays."
The idea is for employees to prioritize themselves and their own mental wellbeing over a demanding to-do list, taking it "slow" on the heels of a weekend away from the office.
Viral TikToker Marisa Jo coined the term, explaining how the first couple hours of her day she might journal or take care of tasks around the house to ease her way into the workweek.
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She explained how "hustle culture" contributed to her crippling "burnout" when she had her corporate job.
But "Bare Minimum Mondays" changed everything for her.
"The mornings are hard. Your brain gives you 10 different reasons to go back to bed," Jo said in the viral TikTok. "It's warm, you're self-employed, and nobody can stop you."
"Your first meeting isn't until noon, but you're trying to find the sweet spot between structure and flow, which in your case, means obeying the structure to access the flow," she continued.
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She shared with Insider that she was experiencing the "Sunday scaries," and would often get overwhelmed on Mondays because of the lengthy to-do list she created for herself.
She said instead of an overachieving to-do list, she removed the "wishful thinking" items, and it transformed her life, allowing her to prioritize herself personally before prioritizing herself as a worker.
After journaling or taking care of tasks around the house, it is followed by an hour of creative, free-thinking to-do items that are work-related, but assignments she enjoys.
"You reserve this work sprint for the creative project of your choice," Jo said. "See? Structure and flow back in action."
Lunch follows her creative hour, and after she is back at her desk, she works on "main work tasks" for a couple of hours.
Jo explained Mondays are shorter because they are actually focused on work, and her productivity level is the same as it was with her previous eight-hour workdays.
And although she admits the structure will not work for everyone, given her flexibility and self-employment, the "self compassion" did "radically" alter her life for the better.
