Disengaged workers: Is there a rise in ‘bare minimum Monday’?


ByDr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL

May 13, 2026


How much is office work under threat from automation? — Image by © Tim Sandle

Some people aim to start their workweek by doing just enough to get by. This is a newly branded fad called “Bare Minimum Monday”. This has been picked up by the firm MyPerfectCV’s, via a new survey.

Whilst the idea of “Bare Minimum Monday” is far from ‘new’, the issue of a disengaged workforce is an important societal issue.

Originating on TikTok, Bare Minimum Monday is a self-care strategy that involves completing only your essential tasks on Mondays. It’s all about setting clear boundaries, taking longer breaks, and easing into the week to lower Monday anxiety and save energy for higher productivity later on.

Tradition of St. Monday

Saint Monday is the tradition of absenteeism on a Monday. The tradition of taking Monday off was common among craft workers during the seventeenth century, when the workweek ran from Monday to Saturday. The custom then evolved to minimising output for workers once the weekend had finished.

Listen to Billy Bragg performing St. Monday here.

Latest survey

From the new survey there is a finding that 43% of British people believe that placing less importance on work would be beneficial (this rate has grown from 26% in 1981). Furthermore, countering another tradition underpinning North Atlantic capitalism – the Protestant Work Ethic – only 39% think that hard work usually leads to a better life.

While Quiet Quitting was a passive response, Bare Minimum Monday is seen as a proactive approach to prioritising one’s wellbeing by escaping the pressures of hustle culture. Workers participating in this trend do not lower their productivity permanently – instead they partake only in what is essential on the first day of the week.

Disengaged workers?

In terms of workplace engagement, the survey only focuses on the UK. This finds that, out of 34 million employed people, an estimated 6.8 million to 13.7 million are disengaged from their work.

One reason for this is with just 29% of those polled saying they are fulfilled at work. Another trend, perhaps explaining this lack of focus, comes from Google searches for “burnout symptoms” hitting 9,800 times monthly in the UK.

Management response

If managers are keen to redress these issues, they can rethink productivity metrics to shift the focus away from hours spent at a desk and measure success based on the quality of work and meeting deadlines.

Other reasons captured in the survey are:Setting realistic workloads to ensure task lists are manageable and avoid scheduling high-pressure meetings on Monday mornings.
Promoting flexibility and self-care to encourage regular breaks and offer flexible schedules to help employees manage their own energy.

These are focused on proactive measures to address these evolving attitudes within the workforce.