Logging trades is half of journaling. The other half, the half that actually improves your trading, is the review. Twenty focused minutes once a week is enough, as long as you finish with a decision.
Pick the same time every week, such as Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, so it becomes a habit.
Part 1: The numbers (5 minutes)
- Net P&L for the week, in money and R
- Number of trades, and trades per day
- Win rate and average win ÷ average loss
- Expectancy per setup
- P&L by session (Asia, London, New York)
- Biggest win and biggest loss
- Any loss worse than −1R (a stop that was moved or ignored)
Part 2: The behaviour (5 minutes)
- Results on trades where you followed your plan vs didn't
- P&L on trades taken within 10 minutes of a loss (revenge trading check)
- P&L on the 4th+ trade of each day (overtrading check)
- Did you respect your daily loss limit every day?
- Which emotion tag showed up most on losing trades?
Let VOLERON keep the journal for you
Trades sync in automatically, stats by setup and session build themselves, and VIOLA, your AI coach, tells you what to change next.
Try VOLERON free for 7 daysPart 3: The screenshots (5 minutes)
Open the screenshots for your three best and three worst trades. Ask:
- What did the best trades have in common?
- Were the worst trades actually your setup, or something that looked a bit like it?
- Would you take each trade again, knowing only what you knew at the time?
Part 4: One decision (5 minutes)
Write down one change for next week. Make it specific and checkable:
- ✅ "No trades after 11am ET."
- ✅ "Stop for the day after two losses."
- ✅ "Only take the breakout setup in London."
- ❌ "Be more disciplined." (Too vague to check.)
Next week's review starts by checking whether you followed it.
Make it easier
Most of Part 1 and Part 2 is just filtering and adding up numbers, which is exactly what a trading journal app should do for you. If your journal calculates stats by setup and session automatically, the whole review takes closer to ten minutes, and you can spend your time on the screenshots and the decision.