How to journal trades in Notion: a step-by-step workflow

Building the database is the easy part. Here is the routine that keeps a Notion trading journal alive: what to write before a trade, after it, and each week.

A Notion journal is a habit first and a database second

Most traders who try journaling in Notion spend an evening building a beautiful database and then stop logging within two weeks. The structure matters less than the routine. This page is a workflow for how to journal trades in Notion: what you write before a trade, what you leave alone while it is open, and what you do after it closes. If you want the list of database fields, see the Notion trading journal template page; this page is about how to use them day to day.

Step 1: One database for trades, one for days

Create a trades database with one row per closed position, and a days database with one row per trading day. Link them with a relation. Keep the first version small: a title, symbol, direction, volume, open and close time, profit, and a notes field. You can add properties later, but you cannot recover trades you never logged.

Step 2: Write the plan before you click Buy or Sell

The most useful sentence in a journal is written before the trade, not after it. Open a new row, or a new page in the trades database, and write three short lines:

Setup: the pattern from your plan that you are taking (one line).
Risk: where the stop goes and how much money that is. The position size calculator turns a risk amount and stop distance into a lot size.
Invalidation: what would tell you the idea was wrong before the stop is hit.

If you cannot write the setup in one line, that is information. It is often a trade you are about to take for the wrong reason.

Step 3: Leave the open trade alone

While the position is open, do not keep editing the page. Moving a stop or a target is a decision, and it deserves a single line afterwards, but a journal that you edit every minute turns into a distraction. One line in the page body is enough, for example: moved stop to break-even after the first target.

Step 4: After the close, answer four questions

Did I follow the plan? Use a checkbox or a Yes/No select, so you can filter later.
What was the one-word emotion before entry (calm, rushed, bored, angry)?
What would I do differently? One sentence, or none if the trade was clean.
Is there a chart screenshot attached? Paste or drag an image into the page body so the context stays with the trade.

Two minutes is the target. A long essay after every trade is the quickest way to stop journaling.

Step 5: Add a few formulas

Notion formulas turn raw rows into something you can read at a glance. Three that are worth adding to the trades database (property names here match the fields above; adjust them to yours):

Formula property	Example formula	What it gives you
Result	if(prop("Profit/Loss") > 0, "Win", "Loss")	A Win or Loss label you can group and filter by
Held (minutes)	dateBetween(prop("Close time"), prop("Open time"), "minutes")	How long each trade lasted
Weekday	formatDate(prop("Close time"), "dddd")	A grouping field for weekday analysis

Check the syntax against Notion's own formula help if a property shows an error, because formula functions change over time.

Step 6: Build four views and ignore the rest

Latest trades: a table sorted by close time, newest first.
This week: the same table filtered to the current week, for your review.
Plan broken: only trades where you answered No to following the plan.
By symbol: a grouped table with the sum of profit per symbol.

A calendar view of the days database is a fifth view that many traders like, because red and green stretches stand out. More than five views usually means you are building instead of reviewing.

Step 7: Review once a week

Logging is only half the job. Once a week, open the This week and Plan broken views and read the notes in order. The weekly trading review checklist gives the questions to ask, and the metrics guide explains win rate, profit factor and expectancy so you read the numbers correctly.

Where manual logging breaks down

Notion has no connection to MetaTrader 5, so a hand-built journal depends on you typing every trade: symbol, volume, prices, times and result. The failure mode is predictable. On a busy day, or after a bad one, you skip the entries, and those are the days that matter most. Typing also invites small errors in prices and times.

The workflow above still applies if the numbers are entered for you. AI Trading Journal is a Windows app that reads closed trades from your own MetaTrader 5 terminal and saves them in your own journal on your PC (with an optional copy in your own Notion workspace) about every 5 minutes, one row per closed position with partial closes combined. You keep writing the plan and the four after-close answers; the app fills in the trade data, and it does not overwrite your Notes. It is read-only, MT5 only, with a 7-day free trial and a one-time price of $19.99 (or 19.99 USDT). Setup is covered in how to journal MT5 trades in Notion automatically.

An honest note on privacy. Notion is itself a cloud service, so your trades do sit on Notion's servers, in your own workspace, under your own account and token. What AI Trading Journal removes is the extra middleman: there is no separate journal vendor holding your trades and no broker login sent to a website. No tool is risk-free, so protect your accounts, including Notion if you connect it, with a strong password and two-step verification.

A realistic first week

Day	What to do
Day 1	Create the two databases with the small field list; log today's trades
Day 2 to 4	Write the setup line before each trade and answer the four questions after
Day 5	Add the Result formula and the Plan broken view
Weekend	Do your first thirty-minute review and write down one rule for next week

This page is general education about record keeping. It is not trading or investment advice.

Frequently asked questions

How do I journal trades in Notion?

Create a trades database with one row per closed trade and a days database linked to it. Write your setup and risk before each trade, answer a few short questions after it closes, and review the week's rows once a week.

What should a Notion trading journal include?

At minimum: symbol, direction, volume, open and close time, profit or loss, whether you followed your plan, and a notes field. Entry price, stop loss and take profit are useful additions.

Can Notion connect to MetaTrader 5 directly?

No. Notion has no built-in link to MT5, so trades are either typed in by hand or filled in by a separate tool or app.

Can I log trades in Notion automatically from MT5?

Yes, with a tool that reads your MT5 history. AI Trading Journal does this on Windows and saves its trades in your own journal on your PC (with an optional copy in your own Notion workspace) about every 5 minutes. It is paid after a 7-day free trial.

How long should journaling take per trade?

Aim for about two minutes: one line before the trade and a few short answers after it. Long write-ups are the main reason traders stop.

Related guides

Let MT5 fill in the trade data for you

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One-time $19.99, no monthly fee · your MT5 login never leaves your PC · trades go into your own journal on your PC, not through our servers.

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