Your performance review is tomorrow. Write the notes tonight.
If your review is close and your notes are a mess, don't try to rebuild the whole year. Pick the work your manager can verify, write it in plain English, then stop.
The 40 minute plan
1. Pull six pieces of proof. Open your calendar, project board, Slack, email, GitHub, CRM, or support queue. Copy the work that had a number, a deadline, a customer, or a person depending on you.
2. Cut it to three wins. Keep the wins that show scope and outcome. Delete anything that only says you were busy.
3. Use this shape. I owned [work]. It mattered because [context]. The result was [proof]. Next cycle, I want to build on it by [next step].
4. Add one honest gap. Pick one thing you want to improve. Tie it to a plan. Managers trust a review more when it doesn't read like a victory lap.
Example you can copy
I owned the handover for the renewal work in April. It mattered because support had no single place to check status, and we were losing time in DMs. I moved the notes into one tracker, added owners for each account, and cut the Friday chase-up from 40 minutes to around 10. Next cycle, I want to turn that tracker into a weekly account health check.
If you want the shorter route
The Performance Review Prep Kit gives you prompts, fill-in sections, and a cleaner way to sort your notes before the meeting. It costs £24 and is delivered through Payhip.
Get the £24 prep kitWant free examples first? Read performance review before and after examples.