Is The Bare Minimum Work Culture Prudent For Employees?

The Bare Minimum Work Culture allows one to prioritise themselves as individuals before employees. However, indulgence in a bare minimum work culture in the era of post-pandemic sacking can come at the cost of the job itself. 

Multiple people were fired during the pandemic. Blessed few retained their jobs. Despite having a job that supports one's lifestyle, why have words like 'bare minimum Mondays' and 'quiet quitting' been doing the rounds on the internet? 

Mondays For A Bare Minimum Work Culture

The concept of 'Bare Minimum Mondays' gains prominence from the atrocities of 'Monday Blues'. Monday marks the beginning of a work week. Post the delight of a weekend, the idea of working at full capacity beginning the next day seems undesirable to employees. 

This is perhaps the reminiscence of 'Sunday scaries' in Marisa Jo Mayes' words. She is a startup founder and a content creator on Tiktok who has gone viral for her 'Bare Minimum Mondays'. 

"Every week, the "Sunday scaries" would hit, and every Monday, I'd sleep in until the absolute last second because I knew that list was waiting for me. The pressure I was putting on myself was paralysing, and I realised something had to change," says the bare minimum work culture Queen. 

The hustle culture has its own grind and will very soon have you lost in its rat race of corporate trajectory. Salary hikes, career advancements, and a little more flexibility are usually what is promised by employers to motivate their marathon runners. 

While this works out for some employees, others are seen to question the cost at which it comes. Some sacrifice mental health by burning the late lamp at the office, others sacrifice personal time, and some others might make sacrifices on building a family. Employees face burnout eventually and are forced to reconsider their career motivations. 

"I had a "hustle culture" problem, a perfectionism problem. I was still approaching work the same way as in my corporate job. It was like a cycle of stress and burnout. I'd feel bad because I was so burned out I couldn't do anything. So I'd make an insanely long to-do list for Mondays in the hopes of overachieving my way back to feeling good about myself and how much I was getting done," shares Marisa in an essay with Business Insider. 

Work cultures

Suggested Read: What Influence Does Culture Have On The Hiring Of Women?

Is Going The Bare Minimum Route Worth It? 

Quiet Quitting was a term that gained momentum in September last year. It is the practice of fulfilling only the KRAs on an employee's contract and nothing outside of it. 

The work from home during the pandemic saw a lot of employees made to overwork simply because they were close to their machines all day. Therefore, they felt trapped into working else they'd get fired. 

It is best to consider switching jobs when employers begin to dangle the firing card when an employee refuses to overstay/overwork. 

If one is blessed with a work atmosphere and company, then perhaps a more prudent choice would be to negotiate unlikeable citizenship tasks with likable ones. 

Citizenship tasks are those tasks that fall outside of an employee's KRA. For instance, helping a newcomer learn the ropes of work. 

However, a lot of time citizenship behaviour is taken for granted in workplaces and not adequately rewarded. It is best not to work for such entitled companies. 

This is easier said than done. Not everyone is privileged enough to do that. What does one do when quitting one's job is not an option? 

Save. Savings are your best friend. With enough savings, you can sustain yourself without a job for a certain amount of time till you find a suitable role. 

Sustaining a job means little when one doesn't have the health, people, or time to enjoy it. Therefore, there is no job if one doesn't first learn to prioritise themselves even when the going is tough. 

The opinions expressed are the author's own. Picture by Unsplash