Trying a New Supplement for 90 Days: Keeping Simple Notes
A long money-back window sounds generous. For a busy sole trader it can quietly work against you. Ninety days is easy to lose between quotes, invoices and a van that needs its MOT. You open the box on day one, and by the time you think about it again, the window has closed and you can't say whether the thing did anything.
A short log fixes that. It takes a minute a day at most, and it turns a vague impression into something you can judge.
Set up before you start
Do these three things on day one, before you take anything:
- Write down the deadline. Work out the last day of the guarantee from the seller's terms, and put it in your phone calendar. Read the terms yourself so you know what counts as the start.
- Name what you hope to notice. One or two things only. Be specific, such as "how my legs feel at the end of a day on site" rather than "feel better".
- Keep the packaging and order confirmation. If you decide to ask for a refund, you will want the paperwork to hand.
If you take prescribed medication or have a health condition, ask your pharmacist or GP before adding any supplement. Do that first, not after the capsules arrive.
What to log each day
Keep it to a few lines in a notebook, a notes app or a spare page in your job diary. Each entry needs:
- The date.
- Whether you took it (a simple yes or no).
- A score out of five for the thing you chose to watch.
- One line on the day: heavy physical work, desk day, bad night's sleep, day off.
That last line matters. A rough week after a run of long loft jobs tells you something different from a rough week when you were mostly doing quotes.
Capture a baseline
If you can, log for a few days before you start. Without a baseline you are comparing the product against a half-remembered version of yourself. Even a handful of scores gives you something to measure against.
If you have already started, write down honestly where you were on day one and mark it as a guess.
Make it easy to stick to
A product that asks very little of you is easier to track. A one-capsule-a-day product with a 90-day guarantee leaves one habit to remember, so you can attach it to something you already do, such as the first brew of the morning. Tick the log at the same moment.
Whatever you try, a routine tied to an existing habit beats good intentions. If you miss a day, mark it and carry on. Gaps are information too.
Review at fixed points
Don't wait for the last week. Put three check-ins in your calendar:
- About a third of the way in: Are you logging consistently? Has anything shifted, even slightly?
- About two thirds of the way in: Look at the pattern, not single days. Are good days clustering with something other than the product, like a quiet fortnight or more sleep?
- A couple of weeks before the deadline: Make the decision.
That last check-in is the important one. It leaves you time to contact the seller, return the product and sort out a refund without a last-minute scramble.
Decide with a simple rule
Agree your rule with yourself early, while you are neutral. For example: "If my scores haven't moved and I can't point to a difference, I ask for the refund." Or: "If I notice a clear improvement and I'd miss it if I stopped, I keep going."
Be honest about the other things that changed. If you also started sleeping better, cut back on late nights or changed your work pattern, you can't give the product all the credit. Note those changes in your daily line so you can weigh them.
If the answer is unclear, that is an answer too. A money-back window exists so you don't have to pay for a maybe.
Close the log
On decision day, read back through your notes in one sitting. Write two sentences: what you noticed, and what you are going to do about it. Then act the same day, whether that means requesting the refund or carrying on.
Keep the notes somewhere you can find them. Next time you are tempted by a new product, you will already have a format ready, and the habit of testing it properly the way you would any new tool before it earns a place on the van.