After a car crash, most people focus on the vehicle, the tow, and the first few days of soreness. Fewer people write down what happened at work. That gap matters because your job schedule is one of the clearest ways to show how daily life changed. A simple log of shifts you worked, shifts you missed, and tasks you could no longer do gives your exam notes a picture that memory alone rarely supplies.
This is a guide for organizing your own information. It is educational, not a diagnosis, and it does not replace the examination itself.
Build a simple work log
Use one page per week. Write the date, your scheduled hours, the hours you actually worked, and whether you left early, came in late, or stayed home. Next to each entry, note the reason in plain words, such as could not lift the case of parts or had to stand through the whole meeting because sitting hurt. Skip general labels like bad day, since they are hard to use later.
If you work two jobs, or split your hours between a shop and a route, keep a separate page for each. Mixing them makes the record harder to read, and the person reviewing your notes will need to see which job you were describing.
Light duty and changed tasks
Some employers offer a modified schedule or a temporary assignment while people recover. If your supervisor changed your duties, write down what changed, the date it changed, and who made the decision. Keep any written schedule, text message, or email that shows the change. If you were moved off a ladder, away from driving, or off a machine, that detail is useful context for your visit.
If no one put the change in writing, make a note the same day describing the conversation. Include the date, the time, and the names of the people involved, and write it in your own words.
Shifts that did not happen
Missed shifts often matter more than people expect. A missed day shows how your body responded to the demands of the job, and it also shows how daily routines shifted. Note whether you called out, who you called, and what time you made the call. Save pay stubs or time records you already receive. Do not estimate hours from memory if a record exists. If you are unsure whether one exists, ask your employer's payroll contact for a copy of your time history for the weeks after the crash.
Your job, in your words
Write a short description of a typical workday before the crash. Include the tasks you did most, how long you sat, stood, drove, lifted, or stayed in one position, and any equipment you used. Then describe the same tasks after the crash. Keep the two lists side by side so the differences are easy to see. Plain verbs work best: lift, carry, reach, drive, type, stand, climb, kneel. Job titles help staff identify your work, but the verbs are what show the physical demands.
Keeping it short enough to use
A two-page work summary is easier to bring to an exam than a notebook full of entries. Put the dates, the hours missed, the duty changes, and the three tasks that feel most different at the top of the first page. Bring the full log behind it. The front desk can check the summary quickly, and you will not have to rebuild the whole week while you sit in the exam room.
Bring it to your visit
Place the work summary in the same folder as your symptom notes, your body outline, and any prior imaging reports. When you sit down with the examining provider, you can read the summary aloud if that helps. Answer questions directly, and if you do not know a date, say so. An honest answer such as I am not sure, but the schedule suggests it was the week after the crash is more useful than a guess. Your record should describe what you can verify, not what you assume.
For readers on the Illinois side of the river, the same work summary works for a Missouri exam. Bring one copy to each visit so the story stays consistent across appointments, and update it as your schedule changes.