“Self reviews are due soon.”

Half the room leans back, rolls their eyes.

Frustrated, on top of their regular job, they now have to write about how they did their job.

But it doesn’t have to be that way…

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If you are a W2 worker, like me, you probably have an annual performance review. When you’re lucky you get specific feedback that you can use to get better. If you’re putting in a good effort, your boss probably tells you “good job” and you get the standard annual raise.

The difference between a 3% and 5% raise feels tiny each year but over a long time horizon it makes a difference. Let’s say 2 people start at $60K. One works a little smarter, a little harder, and they get a 5% raise each year instead of the standard 3%. At the end of the 15 years difference between their annual salary grows to $39K.

(But here’s the secret.)

You don’t need to work much harder. You do, however, need to be focused & strategic with your time.

Here are the most important things I found:

1. Mindset → if I do more than what I’m paid to do, I will eventually be paid more for what I do. One of my mentors, Jason, told me that your job description is the minimum – you are paid to think (add value).
2. Make Haste Slowly → complete things quickly. March towards important, non urgent, goals consistently. The important & non-urgent tasks completed does the heavy lifting for your review. (consider weekly planning if you have trouble with this)
3. Conduct your own monthly performance review. If you have a 1:1 with your boss this is a good time to review this. This helps you stay on track with your goals. I like to have one “win” to highlight each month. It also shows your boss that you’re organized and you take your goals seriously. When it comes time for performance reviews, you can consolidate & condense your 12 monthly reviews. Framework I use for monthly 1:1s:
   • Goal updates
   • Additional value added projects/wins since last month
   • Questions / discussion
4. Set Expectations → here is a great post on how to do this.
5. Make your boss’ life easier.
   • Clear the path for them.
   • Take things off their plate
   • Pay attention to questions they regularly ask. Answer them preemptively.

When writing the actual review, make it easy to read.

Do the job of editing it well. Aim for the minimum effective length to get your point across. It should be long enough to make your case.

To bigger checks,

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