Before the week: one hour
Look at the higher timeframe on the two or three instruments you trade, mark the levels that are obvious, and check the calendar for the releases that will matter. Write down what would have to happen for you to take a trade. That hour means that during the week you are recognising something you already described rather than searching for something to do.
During the week: one window
The same two hours each day, chosen because you can actually be there — not because they are the best hours in theory. Outside the window the platform is closed. This single rule removes the trades taken out of boredom, and for most people that is the whole difference between a losing month and a flat one.
Every trade: four lines
Entry, exit, size, and the reason in one sentence. If the reason will not fit in a sentence, it is not a setup. Add a word for how you felt if it was unusual. It takes half a minute and it is the only record that exists — memory keeps the wins and quietly edits the rest.
End of the week: twenty minutes
Two counts, nothing else: how many trades followed the plan, and how the plan-following trades did against the others. Do not change anything. The changing happens at the monthly review, from the accumulated record rather than from the last trade, and a plan that changes on Friday because Thursday was bad has never been tested.
What is missing from this description
Screen time. Predictions. A view on where gold is going. None of that is in the routine, because none of it is what compounds. What compounds is a small edge applied the same way for long enough that the arithmetic can show up, and everything above exists to protect that repetition from you.
In short
| Weekly preparation | About an hour, before the week starts |
|---|---|
| Daily window | Two hours, fixed, then closed |
| Every trade | Entry, exit, size, reason |
| Weekly review | Count on-plan versus off-plan |
| Changes | Monthly, from the record |
Common questions
How many hours a week does this take?
Roughly an hour of preparation, the daily window you choose, and twenty minutes of review. It fits around a job, which is the point of fixing it in advance.
What if my window has no setups all week?
Then you take no trades, and that is a successful week. The weeks with no trades are what pay for the discipline in the weeks that have them.
Do I really need to write every trade down?
Yes, and especially if you trade rarely. With few trades, memory is the only other record, and memory is not neutral.
Trading forex and CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk. Most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is financial advice or a recommendation to trade.