End of day trading review template

A short, repeatable review for after the session: numbers, rules followed, one lesson and a plan for tomorrow.

An end-of-day review is a short, fixed set of questions you answer after the session, while the trades are fresh and before the next day starts. Done well it takes about ten minutes. Done badly it turns into a replay of every candle and a feeling about the day. This page gives you a template you can copy, the reasoning behind each question and a way to turn a month of reviews into one change you can test.

The ten-minute template

Block	What to write	Minutes
1. Numbers	Start balance, end balance, number of trades, net result in money and in R	1
2. Each trade	Setup name, planned risk, result, and a yes or no: did I follow my rules?	3
3. Behaviour	Any moved stop, early exit, extra trade after a loss or entry without a setup	2
4. Screenshots	Chart at entry and at exit for any trade you want to revisit	1
5. One lesson	One thing to repeat and one thing to fix, in one sentence each	2
6. Tomorrow	Levels or setups to watch, and the one rule you will focus on	1

Keep the answers short. The aim is a record you will actually finish on a tired Friday, not a perfect essay. If a block regularly takes longer than planned, trim the question rather than skip the review.

Why each block exists

Numbers first, feelings second

Write the result before you write how you feel about it. A day with a profit and three broken rules is a different day from a loss with every rule followed, and the numbers keep the story honest. Record the result in R as well as in money, so a small day on a small lot size is comparable with a big day on a big one.

Rules followed: yes or no

A yes or no column is the most useful single field in a journal. After a month you can sort by it and compare the trades that followed your rules with those that did not. It separates a bad outcome from a bad decision, which are not the same thing. The trading discipline rules page lists rules concrete enough to answer yes or no.

Behaviour, not hindsight

Hindsight bias makes every missed move look obvious. Ask instead what you did that you had decided not to do: a stop moved, a size increased after a loss, an entry before the signal. Patterns here are described in more detail on the overtrading and tilt pages.

One lesson, not five

Five lessons is none. Choose the one that would have saved the most money or stress, write it as an action you can check tomorrow, and carry it into the next session. Repeat lessons are a signal: if the same sentence appears four days in a row, it should become a rule in your plan.

A filled-in example (hypothetical)

Block	Entry
Numbers	Start 5,000.00, end 5,042.00, 3 trades, +42.00, +0.84R
Trade 1	London breakout, risk 50, +75, rules followed: yes
Trade 2	Pullback, risk 50, -50, rules followed: yes
Trade 3	Re-entry right after trade 2, risk 50, +17, rules followed: no (no setup)
Behaviour	Took trade 3 to win back the loss; the plan allows one attempt per setup
Lesson	Repeat: waited for the breakout close. Fix: no re-entry within 30 minutes of a stop
Tomorrow	Same setups; focus rule: one attempt per setup

All numbers above are made up. Notice that the day made money but one trade broke a rule. A review that only looked at profit would call it a good day.

Making it automatic

The slow part of a review is copying the numbers. If you use AI Trading Journal, every closed MT5 position is saved in your own journal on your PC (with an optional copy in your own Notion workspace) about every 5 minutes, so the numbers block is already there and you only add the notes, the rules-followed answer and the screenshots. It is read-only, needs no broker login, and is a one-time $19.99 after a 7-day free trial. You can also run this template in a spreadsheet; the free MT5 journal template is a start.

From daily reviews to a weekly decision

At the end of the week, count the rules-followed answers and the repeated lessons.
Pick one rule to tighten or one setup to pause, not both.
Write the test: what you will change, for how many trades, and how you will judge it.
Use the weekly review checklist for the larger view.

The Friday version

On the last trading day of the week, add two minutes to the review: count the days you finished it, count the trades marked as rules broken, and copy the single lesson that appeared most often into next week's focus line. This keeps the daily habit light while giving the weekly review something concrete to start from, instead of a blank page and a vague memory of how the week felt.

Common mistakes

Reviewing only losing days. Winning days teach you what to repeat, and they hide broken rules.
Skipping the review after a bad day. That is when it is worth the most.
Writing a long diary entry that nobody, including you, reads again.
Changing several rules after one day. One day is a very small sample.

This page is general education, not trading or investment advice.

Frequently asked questions

What should an end-of-day trading review include?

The day's numbers, a yes or no on whether each trade followed your rules, any behaviour you want to change, screenshots of key trades, one lesson and a plan for tomorrow.

How long should an end-of-day review take?

About ten minutes. If it takes much longer you will skip it on bad days, so shorten the template until you can finish it every day.

Should I review every trade or only losing ones?

Every trade, at least briefly. Winners can break rules too, and a profitable day can hide a habit that will cost money later.

Related guides

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