Go to your account settings in Evernote Web, then click ‘Manage Subscription’ on the ‘Account Summary’ page. Select Evernote Premium. Enter your credit card information and choose a billing frequency (monthly or yearly). If you want to downgrade from Premium to Basic, note that the process depends on your payment method. Make notes about your trades, and review them later. Enter them during the trading day, or wait until later - you get to decide for yourself how much you want to do during the trading day. Make notes about the trading day as a whole, even for days you didn't make any trades. The Journal View conveniently groups trades and related notes by day. In this video, I will show you how to journal your forex trades with Evernote for free. This is useful because you can also jour.
One of the best things you can do to clear your head and to improve your level of self-awareness is to journal. There is nothing quite like being able to empty out your thoughts in a place that is for you and you alone. Journaling allows you to reflect and then adjust your plan for tomorrow and beyond.
At first glance, you may think it takes too much time to journal. Sure, if you decide to journal on paper that can be a valid point (The Five Minute Journal makes it easier as do several other books designed specifically for journaling). The good news is you also have the option to use technology to create a journal entry in just a matter of seconds.
While there are dedicated applications for journaling available, there is one app that many people already use that can be adapted for journaling quickly and easily.
And that app is Evernote.
Why Evernote?
Evernote has several built-in features that help simplify journaling. Here are a few reasons why it is my journaling app of choice.
Evernote Journal Template
First off, Evernote is accessible from a variety of devices. This means you can begin your entry at the office for work tracking and then at home you can add to that entry to discuss other home and life matters, all without skipping a beat.
Second, Evernote has location awareness built in. So if you’re traveling, you’ll get to see where you were when writing entries and what time of year you were there.
Third, you don’t just need to do written entries in Evernote. You can also do audio entries or use an image to represent (or go along with) a written entry. This versatility makes it a real journaling powerhouse.
Finally, Evernote has incredible search options. So if you want to look back at entries when you decided to try to become a morning person to see if it’s worthwhile for you (Hint: it often doesn’t make a difference to your productivity), then you could use tags for entries or simply search the text in notes based on “morning person” or “early riser”. You can also search images that have words in it, thanks to Evernote’s amazing OCR (optical character recognition) technology. If you want a journaling app that can find whatever you’ve written with just a few keystrokes, Evernote has got you covered.
How to Start
If you’ve been looking to start the journaling habit, it is important to start simple so you can build momentum and see your progress. Let’s go through what you need to do to set up an ongoing journaling setup in Evernote.
Step 1: Create a Notebook for the Current Year
Creating a notebook in Evernote is pretty basic stuff, so all you need to do is create a notebook that you’ll use exclusively for journaling. Ideally, you should name your notebook with the year of the journal first (as numbers sort higher in Evernote than letters), but you can always place an asterisk or an underscore in front of the notebook name if you don’t want to go that route.
If you want to create separate notebooks for each month, you can do that as well. But I must warn you that can get pretty unwieldy and you can only have a limited number of notebooks in Evernote. I recommend you go with one notebook per journal year and just take it from there.
Step 2: Use Separate Notes for Each Entry
Each journal entry should have its own note. If you want to have multiple entries per day, just edit the note you used earlier in the day. This keeps it simple and clean, so that the notebook doesn’t get too overwhelming.
I recommend using the date to name each entry as this keeps the notebook cleaner. If you would like to title them differently, then you’ll still know when each entry was created thanks to Evernote’s “Note Created” field. You can always edit that field if you want (as you can see in the image below) but I think it’s best to leave it be. The “Note Updated” field is another nice feature in that it tells you when you last edited the note. This is particularly useful if you add to that entry throughout the day.
Don’t forget that you can use your voice to take notes into your Evernote app if you want to speed up the process – at least on the Mac and iOS. Speech to text on both of these operating systems works quite well in Evernote. Just be sure to go back and re-read what was transcribed so that nothing gets lost in the translation.
Step 3: Create a Reminder Note
If you’re new to this whole journaling thing, then you’ll want to keep yourself on top of the ritual. That means finding a way to trigger when to do your next entry. If you’re not using features in a task management application or calendar to act as a daily reminder, then Evernote can help you out on this front.
As you can see in the image above, Evernote allows you to set a single reminder in a note but it won’t make it repeating. That means that when you create a note to act as reminder to do your journal entry, you’ll only be able to set the reminder for one date.
So what I do is set it for the next day (after all, I’m already in Evernote and ready to go with today’s entry) and set the ideal time for me to be reminded. I like to journal before bed as part of my evening routine, so my time is set to 11:00 PM. Then every time I go into Evernote to write a new entry, I simply go into this reminder note and set a reminder for the next day.
Again, it’s not the most elegant of solutions, but it works. There are plenty of other ways to create this reminder. But if you want to get used to the idea of going into Evernote daily to write in your journal, this will definitely help you do that.
Step 4: Write on
The last step is both the simplest and the hardest: write in your Evernote journal notebook every day. No matter what. Build that habit. Your future self will thank you for it.
(As an added bonus, you’ll also get better at using Evernote!)
This is just the beginning of using Evernote for your journaling habit. Once you’ve got this process down, you’ll be able to find new ways to make your Evernote journal even better. Here are just a few of those enhancements:
- Create a menu Shortcut to make finding your journal faster.
- Create appropriate tags so that you can highlight milestones in your journal.
- Create a Journaling Notebook Stack so that you can combine yearly journal into one convenient location.
- Create automation routines in IFTTT so that some journal entries pretty much write themselves!
I’ll dive deeper into these topics and other ways to make Evernote an even better journaling tool in a future post. Until then, start with the basics and keep writing in your journal every day.
And start doing that today!
One of the key components of TimeCrafting is completing a Daily Log, which is basically a fancy name for journaling. You can learn more about other components of the productivity method that I’ve created and we teach at Productivityist by clicking here.
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Traders are great at disagreeing. They disagree on everything from trading strategies to ways of measuring profitability. But there’s one thing that all successful traders agree on, and that is maintaining a trading journal that records your trades.
Why You Need A Trading Journal
Selwyn Gishen wrote a succinct article over at Investopedia on why you need a trading journal. It boils down to:
- Getting an idea of your historical performance
- Giving you a basis for your future trades
- Evaluating and fine-tuning your trading system
- Recognizing the need to change any destructive trading behavior
How To Choose Your Trading Journal Software
You might be a pen and paper person. But as you accumulate trade data, it becomes unfeasible to analyze them on paper. You need the help of a computer.
Hence, a trading journal software is mandatory.
When choosing your trading journal software, you need to consider the following:
- Trading Instruments (Stocks? Futures? Forex? or multiple instruments?)
- Brokerage (You can save time if your brokerage records are compatible with your software.)
- Trading Style (Trading horizon, frequency, objectives, etc.)
Regardless of your trading configuration, you will always face a trade-off between convenience and ease of customization.
Below, I’ve organized the top trading journal software into three sections.
- Dedicated Trading Journal Software
- General Purpose Software As Trading Journals
- Screen Recording For Recording Intraday Trading
#1: Dedicated Trading Journal Software
Specialized software packages that are well-suited for your trading needs are ideal. You can import your data and start analyzing them immediately. You will also find it easy to record new trades.
However, you might find them inflexible as your needs change over time. Hence, it’s important to choose by carefully reviewing their features.
All the programs here offer a free plan or trial. Be sure to test them before signing up.
TraderVue
TraderVue is a well-established trading journal software that also offers solutions to prop firms.
Run through its features, and you will realize that their team is well-attuned to the real needs of traders.
Other than the standard journalling features and comprehensive reporting, here are a few highlights I find helpful:
- Filtering and tagging of trades make it easy to group trades for analysis.
- The multi-currency option avoids hassle for traders holding separate balances.
- Access sharing with your trading coach to get feedback on specific trades.
- Risk analysis based on R multiples.
Automatic importing of data is available for a large number of popular stocks, forex, and futures brokers. And even if your broker is not supported, manual import is possible.
The only drawback is that its free tier is very limited.
Most active traders will need to subscribe to paid tiers to make the most out of their trading records and analysis. The good news is that the pricing is not exorbitant given the array of features they offer and the value you can get from them. The key is to match your journalling needs to the suitable tier (Silver or Gold).
You can get a free trial to evaluate their platform, and sign up only if you like what you see.
Trademetria
Like Tradervue, Trademetria offers an impressive set of features.
- Import function for over 140 brokers.
- Over 30 reported trading metrics to help you find out what market conditions work for your trading strategies.
- Full WYSIWYG editor for entering your trades.
- Automatic chart displays of your entries/exits, offering visuals for your trade review.
- Advanced intraday performance reporting.
- Run simulations using your past trades.
Available for a recurring monthly fee. It has a free tier that might work for traders who do not trade frequently.
Trading Journal Spreadsheet
Trading Journal Spreadsheet offers an intuitive and powerful trade journal tool.
It leverages Microsoft Excel’s advanced features to create a feature-filled trading journal software.
One resulting key advantage is that you get a copy of TJS on your computer and you can run it as long as you have excel. You own everything you put in it. Some traders might like this greater control over the software over a SaaS solution.
It also includes:
- What-if analysis (presented as a pretty matrix)
- Expectancy graph generated from simulated trades
- Position sizing tool based on fixed fractional model
- Ability to consolidate your own trading worksheets
- MAE/MFE analysis
- Multi-broker tracker (however, you need to import the data manually in most cases)
One interesting feature worth highlighting is that it can keep track of positions with multiple entries and exits (scaling strategies).
The best part is that you can get TJS with a one-time payment that is tiered according to the number of markets you would like to create journals for.
TradeBench
TradeBench helps you calculate your position size and manage your risk. It comes with a dashboard and charts to help you visualize your progress.
If you’re looking for a basic no-frills solution, check out TradeBench.
It’s free for anyone who joins their mailing list. More details here.
Trading Diary Pro
This paid software has a bulk import function that works with dozens of brokers (full list here). It is ideal for anyone that uses their supported brokers and want to avoid manual data entry.
It also has a useful tagging function. You can create your tagging system so that you can filter your trades by any attributes.
Options traders will also find Trading Diary Pro helpful as it recognizes various options strategy.
Trading Diary Pro costs $149. Note that there’s an upgrade fee of $49 per year after the first year.
It offers a free 30-day trial. Click here to learn more.
Edgewonk
Edgewonk is a trading journal the focuses on helping you find and analyze your trading edge. It is highly customizable and works for most instruments. (Cryptocurrency is a recent addition.)
It also uses proprietary algorithms that make suggestions for improving your trading performance.
TraderSync
TraderSync is designed for stock traders. It summarizes your trade records into beautiful dashboards, complete with recommendations on how to trade better.
There is a free option, but only the paid plans give you smart feedback on your trading performance.
TradeInsights
TradeInsights is a free trading journal that works entirely online. Nothing to download. You can easily import your trades from a variety of platforms.
It has the essential functions for keeping a healthy trading journal and has an optional leaderboard that offers a social aspect to your journaling.
TradesViz
TradesViz is a well-polished trading journal that sets itself apart with its extensive visualization options.
Given its 200+ charts, you can insights into your trading results easily instead of meddling with an Excel spreadsheet.
This platform has dozens of functions, and you might feel overwhelmed at first. But no worries, to help with that, TradesViz generates critical insights from your trading records automatically to get you started.
The full-featured product starts at $15 per month. Before you subscribe, it’s a good idea to test-drive it with a free Basic plan.
#2: General Purpose Software As Trading Journals
Compared to the trading journal programs, you need to spend more time setting up general-purpose software (spreadsheet and note-taking software) to use them as trading journals.
The good news is, once you are proficient, there’s no limit on what you can record and analyze with them.
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet that has more functions than you’ll need for any trading journal.
You have complete control over what fields to include, their formatting, and how to analyze the trade records. This autonomy might be overwhelming, especially for new traders who are unfamiliar with spreadsheet programs. But for traders who are proficient with spreadsheet manipulation, I strongly encourage you to design a trading journal with Excel.
There are free alternatives like Google Sheets and Calc (OpenOffice). They will work for your trading journal as well, but you’ll find it easier to find resources helping you with Microsoft Excel.
For a starting point on what fields to include in your Excel journal, check out these resources:
To make the most out of a spreadsheet trading journal, align it with your trading approach.
For instance, in my price action course, the included Excel Toolkit has sections that correspond to different parts of the course trading framework.
Evernote
Evernote is a robust note-taking software. It excels at connecting pieces of information in a friendly manner.
If you’ve given serious thought to journalling your trades, you’ll realize that each trade has many moving parts. For each trade, you have your analysis, your chart screenshot, your trading results, trade confirmations, emotions journal, etc.
But no worries, Evernote will help you keep track of them.
Want to see how it works as a trading journal? Hugh Kimura over at Trading Heroes shows you how he uses Evernote as his forex trading journal.
#3: Screen Recording For Intraday Traders
Screen recording software is useful for intraday traders. They record your trading sessions and allow you to replay them for post-trade analysis.
They cannot replace a trading journal as you still need your trade records in a database (table) for performance analysis. But for intraday traders, screen recording can form a valuable part of your trading journal.
- My Screen Recorder – A lightweight Windows software that trader Mike Bellafiore uses to record his trading screens.
- Camstudio – For those looking for a bare-bones screen recording software, look no further. Check Camstudio – a free software released under the GPL.
- Video Trade Recorder For MetaTrader – If MetaTrader (MT4 or MT5) is your only charting and trading platform, this is a great option. It runs with MetaTrader in the background and can record multiple chart screens (including those minimized). A low price tag of $35.
- Camtasia by TechSmith – This is one of the best programs you can get for recording your screen, but it does not come cheap. ($249)
- SnagIt by TechSmith – This is a lighter software that works well for recording your trading sessions. ($49.95)
The same company created Camtasia and SnagIt, but their features overlap. This is a source of confusion. But based on TechSmith’s clarification on this page, SnagIt is suitable for documenting your trading sessions. But if you are recording for an audience and require a more polished product, you should go for Camtasia.
Want to share your screen recordings with your trading buddies? Camtasia and SnagIt users can check out Screencast – an online service for sharing your screen recordings seamlessly.
Before You Take Out Your Wallet
Evernote Bullet Journal Template
Check if your charting platform has an integrated trade journal. It could just be the seamless solution you need.
Evernote Journal App
Examples
- NinjaTrader has a trade performance report that provides summary statistics and a field for trade journalling.
- Forex Tester 3 (only for simulation trading) has similar functions.
Show me a trader with good records and I’ll show you a good trader.
– Dr. Alexander Elder, author of The New Trading For A Living