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Scalpers often skip higher timeframes because they take too long to analyse. A fixed routine keeps it to around ten minutes before the session.

1. H4 (3 minutes): is price trending, ranging, or at a major level? Mark the two nearest H4 levels above and below.
2. H1/M15 (4 minutes): where did the last session end relative to those levels? Mark the Asian range and the previous day's high and low.
3. Bias (1 minute): write one line: "long only above X", "short only below Y", or "no bias, range rules".
4. M1 (2 minutes): check the current spread, the first reaction to levels, and that the platform is ready.

The written bias line matters most. It gives a reference when, an hour later, a setup appears against it and you need to decide whether it is strong enough to override.

Do you write your bias down before trading, and how often do you trade against it?

I write it down, but on a sticky note under the monitor rather than in the journal. Having it physically in view is what stops me trading against it without noticing.

My line also has a second half that most routines skip, the price that cancels it. Something like long only above 1.1680, bias void below 1.1655, so a break of the second number sends me back to the routine instead of quietly flipping to short.

On how often I trade against it, my last three months had 26 trades out of about 210 tagged as against bias. Their win rate was 38 percent against 55 for the rest, which was enough for me to require any counter trade to start from an H4 level, never from the middle of the range.

One detail on the H4 step is that the candles depend on server time. On a GMT+2 server the H4 bars open at 22:00, 02:00 and 06:00 London, while a feed on GMT opens them at midnight, so the same week can show different H4 swing highs.

I also redo the bias line at 12:30 London, before New York. Do you rerun the routine at midday or keep the morning line all day?