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A column for whether the trade was in your written plan

This is simple. Before each session I write a short plan: which pairs, which levels, which setups I'm looking for and in which direction. In the journal, each trade gets a yes or no for whether it matched that plan.

A yes means the trade was at a level I'd marked, in a direction I'd planned, using a setup I'd listed. A no means anything else. A trade on a different pair, at a level I didn't mark, against my planned bias, or a setup that wasn't on the list.

Over time, comparing the yes and no trades is informative. Planned trades are made with a clear head before the session starts. Unplanned trades are made during the session, often in response to something that just happened. The difference in outcomes between the two groups tends to be telling.

I'm not saying unplanned trades are always bad. Markets change during a session and sometimes a new opportunity is real. But if most of your losses come from unplanned trades, that's useful to know. It points to a specific fix: trade less outside the plan.

The yes or no column is simple and very useful. I would also note what led to the unplanned trades, such as an alert, a news headline or a chat message. After a while, a pattern often appears. Many of my own unplanned trades came from news headlines during quiet hours. Knowing the source makes it easier to fix. For example, turning off news alerts during the session or leaving chat groups closed until after the review cut the number of unplanned trades a lot.

Partial matches are tricky. A trade at a planned level but in the opposite direction, or a planned setup on an unplanned pair. I use a third option, partial, for these, with a short note. They're often interesting cases because they show where the plan was close but the market did something different. Over time these cases often show where your plans are too narrow or too rigid. If many trades are partial matches, the plan might need to include more scenarios. A short note on what the plan missed turns these trades into ideas for the next session's preparation.

Updating the plan during the session is fine, as long as you note it. If something happens and you decide to change the plan, write down the change and the time before taking any trades based on it. Then trades after the update can count as planned. This keeps the column honest without forbidding any adjustment to changing conditions. A timestamp on the update keeps it clear which trades came before and after the change. It also stops the habit of rewriting the plan after the fact to make a trade look planned, which defeats the purpose of having the column in the first place.