How to Start a Trading Journal (And What to Actually Track)
A journal is only useful if it answers questions you actually have. Track few enough fields that you fill it in every day, and record results in R so the numbers can be compared.
Log date, market, direction, setup, result in R, whether you followed your plan, and one line on what you saw. Record results in R so trades are comparable across instruments. Add fields only when a weekly review raises a question you cannot answer, and review weekly - the review is the part that pays, not the logging.
Trading journal (saved in your browser)
Start with the smallest useful set
Date, market, direction, setup name, result in R, whether you followed the plan, and one line on what you saw. That is enough to answer the questions that matter in month one, and short enough that you will actually do it. The journal above saves in your browser and exports to CSV.
Why R, not money
One R is what you risked. Logging in R makes a gold trade comparable with a EUR/USD trade and stops good position sizing from flattering a weak method - the R multiple calculator converts a trade for you.
A journal needs trades to log. Chart Bound produces dozens of decisions an hour on real historical charts, free.
Play free, no signup →Add fields only when a review asks for them
If your weekly review keeps asking "was this setup better in the morning?", add a time field. If it asks "do I do worse after a loss?", add a sequence note. Fields added for completeness get skipped; fields added to answer a question get filled.
The review is the part that pays
- Weekly: total R, win rate, average R, plan-followed percentage.
- Sort by setup: which one actually carries the results.
- Look at the trades you skipped and the ones you took outside the rules - that gap is usually the whole story.
- Pick one change for next week. One.
Where journals fail
- Logging only the good trades, which makes the sample meaningless.
- Too many fields, abandoned within a fortnight.
- Screenshots with no note, which say nothing six weeks later.
- Never reviewing. A journal that is written and not read is a diary.
Frequently asked questions
What should a trading journal include?
At minimum: date, market, direction, setup, result in R, whether you followed your plan, and a short note. Add fields only when a review raises a question you cannot answer.
Should I journal in money or R?
R. It makes trades comparable across instruments and account sizes, and it exposes sizing that flatters the money figure.
How often should I review it?
Weekly for patterns and monthly for bigger decisions. The review is where the value is; the logging is just data collection.
Does this journal save my data?
It saves in your browser only, and exports to CSV. Nothing is sent to us.
Embed this calculator on your site
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A journal needs trades to log. Chart Bound produces dozens of decisions an hour on real historical charts, free.
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