Been going back and forth on this for months now. Started keeping detailed logs of every trade but honestly not sure if it’s making me any better.
Maybe I’m just not analyzing the data right or something.
Only useful if you actually review them weekly.
Keep it simple and actually use what you track.
I jot down why I entered, why I exited, and if my plan worked. Takes 30 seconds per trade.
Every few weeks I review and catch patterns - revenge trading after losses, cutting winners short. Way more helpful than tracking tons of metrics I’ll never check again.
Trading journals are worthless unless you actually analyze them. Track what matters: win rates by time of day, how your average wins stack up against losses, and which setups actually make money after spreads eat into profits. Skip the emotional diary stuff - focus on hard data. Review monthly and look for patterns that hurt your performance. I realized I was bleeding money every Friday, so I stopped trading Fridays entirely. That one change made a huge difference. If you’re not mining your data for actionable changes, you’re just keeping a fancy spreadsheet.
Tried detailed journals but got lazy. Now I just mark wins and losses on a calendar with quick notes.