How to advocate for oneself?

Great question! There are many levers here:

1. Regular project updates
2. Keeping a brag journal
3. Sharing accomplishments in 1 on 1s, particularly with your manager
4. Writing an effective self-review once perf season rolls around

I talk about all this and more in this lesson of our promotion course: Sell Yourself, Claim Your Wins

For instance, how do you keep track of your progress over the year so that you can share it effectively during a performance review?

On top of the brag journal, I highly recommend creating some sort of expectations plan with your manager to start off every new performance review cycle: Create An Expectations Plan

The goal of an expectations plan is to formally outline a strategy to get the result you want, concretely breaking down "In order to get good rating X, I need to do ABC". Across the year, you regularly check-in to see if you are ticking off the boxes for A, B, and C. This document is the most important for promotions, but it's critical all the time really, even if your goal is to simply meet expectations and not get PIP-ed. Clarity leads to action!

The best way to communicate your achievements at work is to talk about how it benefits others.

Your updates should constantly reinforce why your work makes life better for your coworkers or for end users. A byproduct of sharing this (and your future plans) is that you'll be known as a trusted person who did X.

I talk a bit about this in a YouTube video: I Sucked At This For 25 Years As An Engineer: Communication Tips