Reference Planner

Why Use a Reference Planner?

Daily planners are currently on-sale at many stores for super cheap prices. While I mostly rely on digital schedules I have found it is best to use a paper reference planner. Alternately there are numerous planners you can download for free and then print out yourself. One great use for them is for listing information that you may need to refer to later. Keep the planner for at least a year.

One way to make it more readable and useful later is to color code the ‘types’ of references. Use one color for purchases, one for health issues, one for customer service issues, etc

Some Things to List in Your Reference Planner

Purchases

Keep records of dates, stores, and information about major purchases or electronics. Include whether you sent in a registration and any other information.

Customer Service

One of the realities of modern life is needing to deal with various organizations’ customer service. This can be a slow process that can drag on for weeks or months. Make notes of any visits to the store, correspondences, etc. Chances are in three months when they finally get around to investigating your warranty claim you will have forgotten the name of the first customer service people you called.

Health Information

Make note of doctors appointments noting the time, doctor, any tests given, medication prescribed, and “major advice”. While your health care provider should have the records often it is quicker to be have the records easily available yourself. (Also it gives you a backup if your provider misplaces something, has computer problems, or there are other problems.)

It is also a good place to make notes of when you ordered a prescription. Depending on your health care it can also be beneficial to keep a record of the person who took your call.

If you have a chronic condition consider using this planner for tracking it. Make a note of headaches, asthma attacks, back problems, or anything else that could be helpful in your treatment.

Notes and Linked at

I bought the planner shown above at Barnes & Nobel on a 50% off sale. No, the planner did not stay empty for long.