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Goodbye Quiet Quitting, Hello Bare Minimum Monday!

Going above and beyond is so last century. But who is to blame for the rise of Bare Minimum Mondays: the new generation of workers or the work that causes burnout?

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By Mariusz Wawrzyniak, Senior Content WriterLast Updated : May 11, 2026

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Post-pandemic workplace trends offer a stark contrast to pre-pandemic career-oriented ideals. Work engagement has fallen dramatically, paving the way for the Great Resignation, quiet quitting, and finally, Bare Minimum Mondays.

While many business owners view the Bare Minimum Monday as a generational flaw, employees themselves call it a wellbeing strategy. I’m examining this workplace trend to assess its prevalence in the United Kingdom and determine whether it’s a negative or positive phenomenon.

What is a Bare Minimum Monday?

Like many 21st-century trends, Bare Minimum Monday appeared first on TikTok. In 2022, user Marisa Jo Mayes (@itsmarisajo) shared her perspective on reducing anxiety about starting the week by doing only what’s necessary on Mondays. According to Marisa, this strategy helps to prioritise one’s wellbeing and avoid burnout.

Marisa’s idea resonated with millions of TikTok users: many admitted to having already done the same thing, and others felt enlightened. However, the rise of this trend concerned managers, HR experts, and journalists. Some were worried about decreased productivity in their teams, while others expressed concern about the declining work ethic of today’s labour force.

Changing work attitudes

Britain is currently experiencing a cooling labour market. Job vacancies fell below pre-pandemic levels between June and August 2025. McKinsey notes that online job advertisements decreased by 34% in January 2024 compared to January 2022. Combined with high inflation, rising cost of living, and slow wage growth, many employees feel increasingly unhappy with their jobs but are unable to leave.

This is the perfect breeding ground for disillusionment among workers. McKinsey estimates that quiet quitters can make up from 20% to even 40% of employees. With around 34.24 million Britons in employment, between 6.8 million and 13.7 million UK citizens are disengaged from their work.

The cooling job market is one factor contributing to this trend. Another one is a mindset shift reported by the Policy Institute at King’s College London in 2023:

Only 73% of people in the UK believe that work is very or rather important in their lives—a rate much lower than Italy (96%) and France (94%).
Just 22% of Britons agree that work should always come first, even if it means less spare time.
The vast majority of people don’t perceive those who don’t work as lazy; only 40% do.
43% of British people believe that placing less importance on work would be beneficial—this rate has grown from 26% in 1981.
Only 39% of people think that hard work usually leads to a better life.

Data also show that younger generations place less meaning on work: 52% of Millennial and Gen Z workers, and 50% of Gen X workers, think work should be less important, compared to just 34% of Baby Boomers and 22% of the Pre-War generation.

These numbers show that younger workers seek a better work-life balance. Perhaps trends such as quiet quitting and Bare Minimum Mondays aren’t signs of laziness, but rather a reflection of different values?

How are Bare Minimum Mondays different from quiet quitting?

Keeping up with workplace trends can be difficult, so here’s a distinction between quiet quitting and Bare Minimum Mondays:

Quiet quitting is a passive response to an unfulfilling job or a hostile work environment, in which one is unable or unwilling to quit permanently.
Bare Minimum Monday is a proactive approach to prioritising your well-being by escaping the pressures of hustle culture. Workers following this trend don’t lower their productivity permanently—instead, they do only what’s essential on the first day of the week.

Here’s what a typical Bare Minimum Monday involves:

Setting clear boundaries: no overtime, no smashing targets, no extra meetings on Mondays.
Engaging in work intentionally by managing tasks and work time.
Incorporating longer breaks between tasks to practice self-care, such as going for walks, meditating, or attending a yoga class.
Saving energy and mental capacity for the rest of the week, ultimately boosting personal productivity
Helping to diminish the anxiety typically associated with Mondays.

Here’s a handy comparison of these two trends:

Trend	Quiet Quitting	Bare Minimum Monday
Origin and cause	Started during the pandemic; a reaction to lack of recognition, feeling undervalued, and burnout.	Popularised by a TikTok creator, a proactive self-care strategy to diminish anxiety and manage workload.
Motivation	To disengage from unfulfilling work or a detrimental work environment	To improve well-being by easing into the work week
Focus	Fulfilling only the duties outlined in the job description, nothing more	Performing essential tasks on Monday and working on self-care to boost productivity during the rest of the week
Attitude toward work	Disillusionment	Self-management

The pros and cons of Bare Minimum Mondays

It’s not just a TikTok dream—Bare Minimum Mondays can benefit both employees and employers:

A slower start to the week can help prevent employee burnout.
Having extra time for self-care positively contributes to workers’ wellbeing.
Introducing this approach in the workplace can improve employee morale, leading to fewer absences and increased retention.
Giving employees more freedom to manage their workloads can reduce presenteeism and improve productivity in the long run.

However, there are downsides to every trend, including this one:

Not all roles allow for such flexibility, which could lead to resentment amongst employees who can’t participate in this trend.
Some professions, such as healthcare, hospitality, or construction, operate on tight, on-demand schedules, so embracing this trend wouldn’t be feasible.
Employees could misinterpret this approach and do the bare minimum work all week, leading to a drop in productivity.
Managers could perceive this trend negatively and reprimand or punish employees who practice this approach.

It’s worth noting that productivity varies from individual to individual. Some employees may actually feel their most productive on Mondays and prefer a Take It Easy Tuesday or a slow Friday instead.

Is Bare Minimum Monday a widespread trend in the UK?

While no data measure the popularity of Bare Minimum Mondays, it’s clear that British workers’ attitudes toward work have changed in recent years. The 2025 Burnout Report estimates that:

Only 29% of Britons felt fulfilled at work.
20% needed time off work due to mental health struggles caused by stress.
34% of adults experienced high or extreme levels of stress ‘often’ or ‘always’.

Combined with rising inflation, declining vacancies, and rising living costs, the average worker can easily feel overwhelmed. It’s not surprising that some employees want to take control over their workloads and strive for a work-life balance that benefits them.

Browsing the AskUK Reddit board shows that many users agree with this sentiment:

I think if you pay minimum wage, you should expect minimum effort.

I also believe that this translates to salaries for other jobs, if you pay the bare minimum for a field, don’t expect them to go above and beyond.

— Reddit comment from user Kamay1770

Why wouldn’t it be the case?

The only reasons I ever do more than the bare minimum is if I am working towards a promotion or if there is a direct financial gain for me as a result of the extra effort. But even then I will do the bare minimum to tick the boxes I need to tick.

My life is more important than any job. A job enables me to have a better life, so the balance is find a job that pays as much as possible with as many holidays as possible while being able to spend as little energy as possible on work so I have energy to enjoy my actual life.

— Reddit comment from user Regular-Ad1814

I do the bare minimum because it’s not with the extra stress or time.

Don’t really care about getting ahead in this career as it would mean more accountability and stress.

To be clear what I do, I do well, consistently get good feedback and praise from managers and the rest of my team. But I won’t do anything more than what I’m asked or expected to do.

I think some people see “doing the minimum” to mean doing things poorly, which is not something I agree with.

— Reddit comment from user DrH1983

It’s unlikely that employees would openly admit to embracing Bare Minimum Mondays. Even on TikTok, where the trend originated, the hashtag #bareminimummondays has been used in a little over 1,000 posts. In comparison, the hashtag #workhard is featured in over 2 million posts worldwide. However, the willingness to effectively prevent burnout is real: in the UK, Google users search for ‘burnout symptoms’ 9,800 times each month.

How should managers approach such workplace trends?

If you’re in a leadership position, you may supervise employees who want to participate in Bare Minimum Mondays. Instead of panicking about reduced work output, approach it with a flexible mindset.

Here are a few recommendations for workplaces:

Rethink productivity: Productivity isn’t about sitting at a desk in an office for 8 hours per day—it’s about completing tasks within deadlines and matching quality criteria. Many jobs can be performed flexibly, with employees adjusting their schedules and workloads to choose when and where to work, whether from home or in the office as needed. Productivity tracking tools can help to oversee employee performance without micromanagement.
Set realistic workloads and expectations: Frequent overtime signals an impossible workload. Don’t expect employees to always give their 100%.
Promote self-care and well-being: Encourage employees to prioritise their own well-being by taking regular breaks, avoiding overtime, and taking time off or working remotely when needed. Don’t schedule important meetings on Monday mornings or late Friday afternoons. Have honest 1-to-1 sessions to gather feedback and address any workplace concerns.
Distinguish between having slow days and being disengaged: If someone’s Bare Minimum Monday turns into a Bare Minimum Month, it’s worth having a check-in to see what’s going on. Perhaps it’s simply a matter of poor time management or inadequate organisational skills, but it could also indicate burnout or a willingness to leave.

Methodology

This article on the Bare Minimum Monday trend was written using a multi-source review of credible labour market data, workplace studies, and reports concerning employee burnout. The process included:

Overview of pre- and post-pandemic work attitudes in the United Kingdom and European Union, based on the 2023 King’s College London and The Policy Institute’s survey What the world thinks about work.
Identification of possible factors contributing to negative employee attitudes, new workplace trends, and occupational burnout based on the 2025 Burnout Report, McKinsey’s 2024 analysis, and current labour market statistics.
Search on social media platforms, including TikTok, Reddit, and LinkedIn, to assess the global and UK popularity of Bare Minimum Monday.

Sources

Mariusz Wawrzyniak

Senior Content Writer

Mariusz is a career expert at My Perfect CV who writes practical, research-based guides that help professionals from all industries craft impactful CVs, write compelling cover letters, and advance their careers.