2023.03.27
Bare Minimum Mondays should be mandatory.
Yes, you read that correctly.
They’re not about being lazy or slacking.
They’re about pace and capacity.
They’re about intentionally establishing the cadence of your workweek.
I get it. It is much easier to focus on the visible outcome than to champion the invisible process that makes it possible.
These outcome focused people must believe that somehow priorities magically set themselves. That planning and reflecting aren’t necessary. That delegation is as simple as saying “take care of doing [x]”.
They forget that “defining” the work is just as important as doing it.
And that is where Bare Minimum Mondays can be genius.
With the volume of responsibilities contained within the typical knowledge worker’s portfolio, a day to define work, to set priorities, to follow up with others, to schedule things, and then of course to “do” some work is not only reasonable, it is necessary.
Back in 2020 I worked at an organization that implemented No Meeting Mondays and it quickly became a BELOVED piece of the culture.
What I noticed the rest of the week across the organization:
What would it take to get a planning/quiet day established for your team?