Stop showing your best performance in office: Follow the 80 percent rule instead, says career advisor to all corporate employees

A career advisor has a simple message for employees who regularly finish work ahead of schedule, stay available after office hours or take on more than expected; doing your best all the time can sometimes raise the expectations placed on you. In a video shared on Instagram, corporate career advisor Avreen explained why employees should not treat maximum effort as their everyday standard.

Her suggestion was not to work poorly, but to leave some capacity for days when work or personal life becomes more demanding.

How giving maximum can change expectations

Avreen used an example of an employee completing a six-hour task in three hours. While that may initially appear highly efficient, she argued that the faster pace can eventually become the expectation.


“You think if you do a 6-hour job in 3 hours, you'll look very efficient. It's not like that,” Avreen said.

According to her, once an employee consistently delivers work much faster than expected, that performance can become the new normal rather than being treated as an occasional example of exceptional productivity.

She illustrated the point with another example: an employee who regularly responds to messages late at night could eventually be viewed as someone who is available at that time.

“Your best becomes your baseline,” she said, describing this as an “unsaid rule of the corporate.”

Her advice: Keep some capacity in reserve

Instead of operating at maximum effort every day, Avreen suggested employees work at around 80% of their capacity and keep the remaining 20% for situations when it is genuinely needed.

“So give your 80% in the office. And save 20% for the days when your energy is low,” she said.

The idea, as presented in the video, is not about deliberately missing deadlines or avoiding responsibilities. It is about maintaining enough room to handle difficult days without immediately falling below expectations.

That could become particularly relevant when something unexpected happens at work or when an employee is dealing with an issue in their personal life.

The 'Ramesh' example

Avreen used a fictional employee named Ramesh to explain the difference between consistently overperforming and maintaining boundaries.

“And Ramesh knows this very well. That's why he doesn't become great all the time. He closes his laptop at 6 and goes home,” she said.

Her example focuses on the expectations created by repeated behaviour. If someone regularly works beyond their scheduled hours, responds late at night and takes on extra work, those actions can eventually be treated as normal rather than exceptional.

By contrast, setting a clear stopping point can leave employees with some additional capacity when an unusually demanding situation arises.

Employees debated the advice in comments

The post also attracted mixed reactions from viewers. Several commenters agreed with Avreen's argument, with some saying they had experienced similar changes in workplace expectations.

One commenter said his manager described everything he was doing as “BAU” and said he had since started logging off after his working hours.

Others strongly disagreed. One commenter argued that employees should “always give their 100% to everything” and accused the advice of encouraging mediocrity.

Another commenter questioned how the approach would work for employees who already struggle to meet deadlines.