Ease up! Working at 85 per cent capacity is the secret to success

Want to avoid burnout? Forget putting in maximum effort and follow the 85:15 working rule instead, says Hugh Jackman. Maria Lally looks at the science behind the theory and agrees he’s onto something…

Candidates on The Apprentice always give 110 per cent (BBC/Fremantle Media/Ray Burmiston)

In every series of The Apprentice, hopeful candidates tell Lord Sugar they are going to give him “more than 100 per cent”. But have they got it all wrong? And should they be offering him a good 15 per cent less than that if they want to impress him?

In an interview with the American entrepreneur Tim Ferriss, Hugh Jackman, the star of X-Men and The Greatest Showman, cited the rule – where you work at 85 per cent of your capacity – as the secret to success.

The 85/15 rule works on the theory that taking your foot slightly off the work pedal is the key to being a happier, healthier, and more productive worker, and is increasingly being endorsed by business leaders, elite athletes, and even Hollywood stars including Jackman.

In Jackman’s case it involved bulking up to play characters like Wolverine in X-Men before slimming down again for other roles. “If I was coaching me, myself, like if I was the coach and Hugh Jackman was on my team, I wouldn’t put more pressure on him, push him more,” he said, before adding that doing so “in the end, does certainly limit your ability to enjoy life. It doesn’t get the best out of you. It really doesn’t.”

Others agree. A recent feature in the Harvard Business Review was called “To Build a Top Performing Team, Ask for 85% Effort”. While Tim Martin, the JD Wetherspoon pub founder, recently said: “I think 85 per cent is about right because it’s a marathon race. On the wall of our office, we’ve got a picture of [the mythical Greek character] Sisyphus, condemned by the gods to push a boulder uphill forever. Running a business is like that. You need to keep something in reserve since the task is incessant.”

The 85/15 rule was first discovered when Olympic legend Carl Lewis, who won nine gold medals throughout the Eighties and Nineties, developed a record for starting last in races but finishing first. His coach realised that maintaining your speed for the entire race and operating at around 85 per cent of your effort and ability, rather than giving it your all, reduced stress, enhanced performance, and was the real key to success. The 85 per cent rule was born.

“For me the concept of 85/15 is a sound theory,” says Clayton Green, a sports scientist who worked in Formula One with McLaren for more than 12 years and was Lewis Hamilton’s performance coach for the 2010 Grand Prix season. “I wouldn’t expect an athlete to be able to perform at 100 per cent all of the time.” This theory also applies to those sitting behind a screen all day, he says: “Any activity that requires energy, and that includes intense thinking and problem-solving, cannot function at 100 per cent indefinitely. You need to be able to refuel, repair, and re-energise whatever physiological systems you need to lean on.”

And it’s an idea that is finally catching on in the workplace, says Cary Cooper, a professor of organisational psychology and health at Manchester Business School and co-author of the new book, Burnout While Working. “Business leaders are finally realising that if you give 100 per cent of your effort all of the time, you will simply burn out, no question,” he says.

Professor Cooper – who writes a book every year on top of his day job – cites himself as an example of this: “I work hard at my job, but I don’t kill myself. I make sure that I have regular breaks, I stop work at a reasonable time, and I make sure I work in a way that allows me to spend time with the people who are important to me. In other words, I put in 85 per cent.”

At 41 hours a week, the UK has some of the longest working hours in Europe, yet we’re not the most productive

Think of yourself as an electrical fuse, he says. “If you overload yourself, the lights will start to dim or they might just switch off, and you’ll burn out completely. Humans need rest, regular breaks, exercise, and engagement with family and friends to stay healthy and productive at work.

“If you ease off slightly and bring some balance into your life, you work harder and more efficiently when you are at work. At 41 hours a week, the UK has some of the longest working hours in Europe, yet we’re not the most productive.”

We are, however, pretty burnt out.

In April, researchers found British workers are increasingly “knackered” and “burnt out”. The research, by think tank Onward and called “Burnt Out Britain”, examined the rise in workers feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. This was due to a “higher tempo of life”, found the researchers, as people struggle to create boundaries between work and leisure time because technology means we’re never not available or switched on.

So how can you put in 85 per cent of your effort when your boss expects 100? “I suppose I would like to see the individual take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, but be supported by their employer,” says Prof Clayton, who adds that companies would do well to forgo gimmicky wellness initiatives – “wellness washing”, as some put it – and simply encourage a workplace that isn’t beset by long hours or a toxic culture. “Employers should instead create an environment and culture where the employee feels it is acceptable to leave on time, or reach out and ask for help if they are struggling.”

Younger millennials and Gen Zs are ‘better at the 85/15 rule than older workers’ (Getty Images)

Those most likely to do this, says Prof Cooper, are younger millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Zs (between 1997 and 2013), who are better at the 85/15 rule than older workers.

“There is a hell of a lot of burnout in those aged between 45 and 55,” he says. A 2022 study found that middle-aged Britons were dropping out of the workplace in record numbers, which the researchers put down to their stress and anxiety levels surging during lockdown, due to their increased work and caring responsibilities.

“They’re also the generation known for their robust work ethic,” says Cooper. “In particular, women of that generation vowed when it was their turn they would smash glass ceilings, not realising they would probably be doing so while taking on the lion’s share of the work at home. The younger generation saw their parents often sacrificing family life, and their health and happiness, to prove their worth to their employers and to themselves and decided not to do it.

“Some older workers may call the younger ones snowflakes for prioritising their mental health, but I have children in this younger generation and they work hard, have high-tech skills, and care about their life outside of work. They’re everything we need for the future. And they definitely follow the 85 per cent rule.”