Rigorous self evaluation is the beginning, middle, and end of self management. It is the essential habit of self improvement. Constantly assess your own productivity, your own quality of work, your own behavior. Be honest with yourself and make a commitment to yourself to constantly, rigorously evaluate yourself.

That means continuously asking and answering for yourself a number of questions:

On PRODUCTIVITY you need to ask and answer for yourself: Are you getting enough work done fast enough? What can you do to get more work done faster? Should you revisit your priorities? Do you need to focus your time better? Do you need to postpone low-priority activities? How can you eliminate time wasters? Do you need better time budgets? Do you need to make better plans?

When it comes to QUALITY you need to be asking and answering for yourself: Are you meeting or exceeding guidelines and specifications for your tasks and responsibilities? What can you do to improve your work? Do you need to make better use of checklists? Do you need to start adding some bells and whistles to your work product?

When it comes to your BEHAVIOR: What can you do to be a better workplace citizen? Are there substandard behaviors you can eliminate? Are there superstar behaviors you can start adding? Should you be taking more initiative or less? How can you take more initiative without overstepping your bounds?

Of course, self evaluation is an engine of self improvement only if you use the information you’ve learned from it. Focus on your ongoing self evaluation and really start using what you learn from it. Start on one small goal at a time - the smaller the better. Once you meet that goal, take another small step. Self management and self improvement come one small step at a time. It’s a never-ending process because there is always room to improve.