Mike | The Lab
Published on
Nov 25, 2025
Trading without a journal routine is like navigating without instruments. You might hit a few wins, but you’re relying on luck instead of data.
Most traders start a journal then abandon it after a few weeks. The professionals who succeed? They build journaling habits that transform raw trade into actions.
Here’s how to establish a trading journal routine backed by the strategies professional traders use to maintain discipline.
Why consistency matters more than perfection
Discipline separates profitable traders from breakeven ones. A consistent journal routine builds that discipline. When you commit to documenting every trade regardless of outcome, you're training yourself to follow process over emotion.
The real test isn't journaling after winners when motivation is high. It's logging the details after a brutal losing streak when you want to close your platform and walk away. That's when routine carries you through. That's when the habit proves its value.
Consistency also enables pattern recognition. Twenty trades documented this month and fifteen next month creates data gaps. One hundred consecutive trades with complete documentation reveals statistical truths about your edge, your mistakes, and your psychology.
Building Your Daily Routine
Do a market briefing pre-market, it will help you setting up the expectations and you can use them to later journal, did you follow the plan you had in mind?
Journal as soon as you close the trade, the details are fresh, emotions are still strong and you can remember everything.
Take a few hours to rest and then review with a clear mind, this way you can be more objective.
Review Your Week's Performance
Pull up every trade from the week and look for:
Plan Adherence: How often did you follow your complete setup criteria? Which rules did you break most frequently? Were deviations profitable or costly?
Strategy Performance: Which setups delivered the best results? Which consistently underperformed? Are win rates and risk-reward ratios meeting expectations?
Risk Management: Did position sizing stay consistent? Were stop losses honored? Did risk per trade align with your rules?
Psychological Patterns: Which emotions drove mistakes? What mental states correlated with best performance? Are there specific triggers causing impulsive decisions?
Document these observations in a weekly summary section. Over time, these summaries reveal macro trends that daily entries miss.
Identify Actionable Improvements
Monday leads to bad trading results? Cut Monday Sizing over 500$ makes your trading performances worse? Cut size
The first 30 minutes after market open is the worst trading window for your model? Wait until 10:00 to trade
Find patterns and implement them.
Common excuses that ruin your journal
I dont’ have time.
This is the most common excuse but also the easiest to solve. Journaling doesn’t require hours. On a weekly basis you will only invest 2/3 hours worth of journaling. Dedicate some time to it, if you want to trade seriously.
I’m too emotional after losses.
Emotion makes you want to skip documentation. That's precisely when documentation matters most. Your worst trading days provide your most valuable data.
Biggest losers require immediate journaling before you can leave your desk. The pain is highest then, which means your memory is sharpest and your motivation to prevent repeats is strongest.
My journaling isn’t improving my performances.
Documenting alone doesn't create improvement. Analyze and implement to create space for improvement.
