From Exhausted to Empowered: Applying the 85% Rule to Your Daily Routine

My visit to the doctor the other morning gave me the diagnosis of RSV.  Not the biggest take away from my visit.  No, that was this:  research is showing the importance of sleep for long-term brain health.  But it actually isn’t sleep itself, but the recumbent position of the traditional way we sleep that facilitates the heart pumping blood to the brain.  (Please note:  I am not a medical doctor, so this is my lay translation of what my doctor said to me; do not take this as medical advice.)  So, when I get my two hours of sleep at night but stay recumbent for another four, I may be tired in the morning, but I’ve served my brain well.  I can deal knowing that.

This got me (re)thinking about the 85% performance rule.  Contrary to the thinking that so many have routinely pushed out that maximum performance requires maximum output, the 85% rule says “Nope, not the case.”  Do not work at 100% output, but rather at 85% and save the remaining 15% for creativity, relaxation, self-investment, etc.  If you work at 100% all of the time, the thinking goes, you will eventually burn out and achieve less-than optimal results.  Working at 85%, however, and really using that 15% for other “work”, as noted previously, results in optimum output.  Doubters?  Think Carl Lewis, nine-time gold medal Olympian who abided by the 85% rule.

Thinking about the 85% rule led me to thinking about some of today’s big workplace challenges.  The one that jumped immediately to mind is the complaint that I hear constantly:  there isn’t enough time in my day to do all that is expected of me.  What would happen if you tried to do everything at 85% instead of 100%?  Would it all be doable?  My bet is probably not.  Would you get more done, even though not everything?  Probably.  But it still signals the fact that the list and its expectations are unrealistic and, therefore, you are being set you up for failure.  Don’t know that there is a faster path for getting people to hate their jobs than being set up for failure.

The whole idea behind the 85% rule is to get people to be more successful in their roles.  But it is never going to work if from the outset someone has been set up with an impossible task.   So, let’s ask a better question:  How many of the things on your list of responsibilities are the “right” things to be doing?  In other words, is what you are being asked to do how you should really be spending your time in order to achieve the ultimate goals and purpose of your position?  I’d wager probably not.  Far too often, that list of responsibilities hasn’t been revisited in many years, despite the fact that the list keeps growing and/or the fact that the end goals have shifted.  It hasn’t been looked at to see if it still makes sense, if the pieces logically go together, if the parts demand the same skill set that was hired for the position, and, of course, whether it is doable in the average work week.

Well, what if the answer to that most recently asked question comes back, “Yes, this enormous list still makes sense.”  Then what?  Ask this next:  are you using your time in the most effective way for how you work best?  “Break free from autopilot” is a mandate that has been coopted by many different approaches to life, from mindfulness to life coaching to time management and more.  Overused at this point?  Absolutely.  Nevertheless, there is a certain logic to the directive in that it demands that we think—not simply do—about how we work.  Not all of the tasks of any job require the same amount of energy or clear-headedness or peace and quiet, etc.  Nor does everyone work the same.  There is a reason that one of the most common questions asked of individuals when building a new team is “When do you work best?  Are you a morning or night person? (This is often followed up by the question, “How do you work best?”)  Think about it:  not everyone wants to eat lunch at noon; for some it’s too early, others too late and for others it's just right.  We are guaranteed to get weaker outcomes, while also smashing the 85% rule to smithereens, if we ask a late day person to attend an 8:30 meeting when the best way for that person to use that time slot is to drink a cup of coffee, do some mental calisthenics and bring their ace 85% input to an 11:30 meeting.  Recognize when you at your best, when your “peak performance” time is and save the most challenging of your tasks for then, allocating those that require less of you to other parts of your day.

I’m okay with being physically tired if I know my brain is being fed for long-term durability.  That’s how I know everyone will get my best performance.  Just like I’ll take 85% from those who bring their best energy, confidence, brains, creativity, and success.