You know that sinking feeling in December when someone says, “Hey, your performance review is due Friday…” — and you’re suddenly digging through a year’s worth of dusty folders and scattered emails trying to remember what you actually did? 🫠 

(If you’re new to this: a performance review is when your supposed to sum up your work so your manager can rate you and influence your raise, bonus, or next move.)

Most of us have been there: great work forgotten, wins under-reported, and impact watered down all because nobody kept track real-time. Meanwhile, someone else with better notes or a louder voice walks away with the bigger raise or better shot.

My First Performance Review

I was lucky to have an awesome manager. I brought her my list of what I remembered — and she rattled off even more projects, wins, and impact I’d forgotten. She made sure it all went in my review. That’s not normal. Most managers won’t do this.

Because of her, my review was stronger, my rating higher, my bonus bigger, and my raise better 🥳 . That experience taught me four lessons.

Four Valuable Lessons

• 1️⃣ You’ll forget wins. Even when you think you won’t.

• 2️⃣ A good manager might advocate for you — but that’s the exception, not the norm. Many won’t notice or push for you.

• 3️⃣ Good notes make you a better advocate. Show up with proof, and you raise your ceiling.

• 4️⃣ Your career is yours. No one else will keep score for you.

My key learning: Everyone needs a simple system to track their work and spotlight their wins.

Starting that January, I built one — and I’ve nailed every performance review since 💪.

Keep reading to learn my system and get your own template to:

• Organize and capture your work + highlight wins in a practical way.

• Write a standout review.

• Lock in the bonus, raise, or promotion you deserve.

Why Start Now?

December always comes faster than you think and the version of you that’s scrambling at year-end will wish you started today.

Using my system doesn’t just make performance reviews easier at the end of the year, it also immediately improves your day-to-day focus and impact

You’ll gain:

• Clarity on what actually matters for you right now

• Focus to avoid spinning your wheels or dropping balls

• Momentum from seeing real progress stack up

• Confidence knowing you’re capturing your wins as you go

So yes, your future self will thank you in December. But your current self will feel more organized, more in control, and better equipped to do meaningful work — every single day.

The System: BrainStation

I call it a 🧠 BrainStation. David Allen said, “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” This holds everything for you, so you don’t have to.

Template for You

Want to see it? Click here to check out the Notion template. To copy it, just hit the Duplicate button (next to the three dots in the top-right corner, left of the “Get Notion free” button).

It’s just a Kanban board with specific information — I promise, you’ll experience the magic while using it. Stick with me.

The what, why, and how of Kanban

A Kanban board is a simple visual way to organize work. Loads of people and teams are more productive because of them. The basic versions have columns like To Do, Doing, and Done. Each task is a card (Notion calls them “New Pages”) you drag across like sticky notes as you make progress.

Kanban boards help you stay organized and focused. Mine keeps me sane — I can see everything at a glance, focus on what matters, and avoid missing things.

How to start:

• Pick a tool - I like Notion for personal and use Microsoft Teams at work - up to you. Make a copy of the template if you haven’t already.

• Create 3–6 columns - Personally, I like six.

  1. New/Waiting - Stuff I’m waiting on or that’s 3+ months out

  2. Progressing - Things I’ll be working on soon

  3. Most Important (3 max) - Today’s top three; then pick more if needed.

  4. Done - Finished things not worth adding to my end-of-year performance review

  5. Performance Review - Wins worth sharing with my manager, HR, or leadership.

  6. Reminders - Notes I don’t need daily but want handy.

• Add tasks/todos as “New Pages.” Keep them bite-sized. Drop any notes inside the card.

  • In Notion, add properties like soft/hard deadlines, URLs, tags, or checklists.

• Use the description section at the top under the title. I keep reminders here, like Laszlo Bock’s resume formula: Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z].

  • I also add personal nudges like “What problem are we solving?” and my three big focuses for the quarter or year.

How to use it in real life 🤔 

Use it daily. Start your day here to get clear, set priorities, make progress, and focus.

Some practical ways I use this daily are:

• Someone calls about an “urgent” task in Progressing. I open the card, take notes, clarify urgency, and decide if it deserves a spot in Most Important — swapping something out if needed.

• I get an email about a project from months ago. Instead of aimlessly searching folders/files, I just check my Done column, review my notes, and reply with a clear answer.

• I wrap up a project and get great feedback in a nice email. Instead of moving it to Done, I drop it in Performance Review with my notes and the praise, so I don’t forget to include it.

There’s no perfect way — just keep it simple and use it consistently to stay organized and help yourself out.

How to use it with performance reviews

When review time comes, your Performance Review column is your goldmine because your wins are ready to go 💥.

Make each one a true accomplishment. Use Laszlo Bock’s formula:

• Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z].

This is super easy with ChatGPT’s help. Use a prompt like below:

Quick tips from Laszlo’s winning resume approach:

• You control what goes in your review. Vague = low quality.

• Always quantify or compare to show impact.

• Any task can be framed with data or context.

• Specific beats buzzwords.

• Don’t leave your value up to guesswork.

• Never lie or misrepresent your work.

Lastly, order them to your advantage:

• People remember the first (primacy) and last (recency) things best.

• Put your strongest wins at the top and bottom; weaker ones in the middle.

I promise it is more simple than it may sound and it is 💯 worth the shift.

Just start by creating a Kanban board to serve as your Brainstation.

Make sure you have whatever columns are most helpful for your brain + a “performance review” column.

Thank you for subscribing and reading. I hope you have a great week!

Warmly,

Scott