spreadsheet or journaling app?

[Shadow Trader]

This argument keeps running, and both sides have a point.

The spreadsheet crowd says columns can be shaped to anything: setup type, session, emotional state, screenshot link, spread at entry. Nothing is locked in, and it costs nothing.

The software crowd says typing every trade by hand gets old by week three, and auto-import from the platform removes that chore. Built-in charts for win rate by hour or pair also save a lot of formula work.

The catch with software is that the stats look impressive while the notes stay thin. The catch with a sheet is that it only gets filled in while motivation lasts.

Whichever is picked, the data that matters is the same: why the trade was taken, and what happened versus what was planned. A fancy dashboard of numbers with no reasons attached isn't much of a journal.

Which one has survived longest for you, and what made the other one get dropped?