a test to see which journal fields deserve to stay
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2026 9:47 am
Journals tend to bloat. Twenty columns, colour coding, screenshots, and after a month nobody reads any of it.
Here's a small test that works on data that already exists. Take the last 60 trades. Pick one column at a time (time of day, pair, spread at entry, minutes held, setup name, mood score) and split the trades into two groups using it. Then compare the average result per trade between the groups.
If a column splits results into near-identical halves, it's decoration. If one splits them clearly, say London-open trades versus the rest, that field has earned its place. With 60 trades the noise is big, so only large gaps mean much, and a gap that vanishes as the sample grows was never real.
Fields that often turn out to matter for scalpers: spread at entry, minutes held, time of day, and whether the trade followed the written setup or was improvised. Fields that often turn out to be dead weight: long free-text feelings written after the fact.
Sample size is the weak point, obviously. Sixty trades prove nothing. This is just a way to decide what to keep recording.
Which single column in your journal has changed a decision, and which one has never been looked at twice?
Here's a small test that works on data that already exists. Take the last 60 trades. Pick one column at a time (time of day, pair, spread at entry, minutes held, setup name, mood score) and split the trades into two groups using it. Then compare the average result per trade between the groups.
If a column splits results into near-identical halves, it's decoration. If one splits them clearly, say London-open trades versus the rest, that field has earned its place. With 60 trades the noise is big, so only large gaps mean much, and a gap that vanishes as the sample grows was never real.
Fields that often turn out to matter for scalpers: spread at entry, minutes held, time of day, and whether the trade followed the written setup or was improvised. Fields that often turn out to be dead weight: long free-text feelings written after the fact.
Sample size is the weak point, obviously. Sixty trades prove nothing. This is just a way to decide what to keep recording.
Which single column in your journal has changed a decision, and which one has never been looked at twice?