Thread: Favorite tool to keep your diary: app, web, Excel, Google?

What is your favorite and why? What would you recommend?

Pencil and paper.

I use Notion and I don�t change it for anything. I can integrate graphic images, captures, annotations, results and even emotional reflections of the trade. All in one place and with customizable templates. In addition, I can access from the mobile phone or computer without losing anything. The best thing to use Notion is that it helps me maintain a routine of post-trade analysis. I not only look at the result, but the process. Over time, that has allowed me to correct repetitive errors that I didn�t see before. Totally recommended.

Honestly, Excel seems insurmountable to me if you know how to use it well. You can create dynamic tables, performance graphs, KPIs, risk-benefit ratios and everything you can think of. It�s more work at first, but once mounted, it�s brutal. Yes, if you just point out the pair and the gain/loss, you�re not taking advantage of it. The real value is also to record your reasoning behind each operation. That�s how you actually improve.

Google Sheets is my favorite tool. It�s in the cloud, it�s saved by itself, and I can edit it from my mobile phone if I need to score something fast. I added a script to automatically calculate the R/R and the % of profit per trade. Also, I share it with a colleague with whom we review our operations weekly. Having �external eyes� helps a lot not to fool yourself with excuses.

I have tried apps, Excel templates, even physical journals... and in the end I always end up going back to Telegram. Yes, it sounds weird, but I have a private group where I send me screenshots, ideas, inputs, outputs and reflections. The key is not the tool, it is to use it constantly. If you use something that is heavy, you will abandon it. If it is easy, you will continue. In my case, Telegram is like talking to me with visual tests.

Ah! The eternal debate of the perfect tool... When in reality what is missing is discipline to score, not software. Many have precious templates that never fill. My recommendation: starts with something simple. A notebook or a digital notebook. If you continue using it a month, go to something more complete. But do not waste time building a perfect Excel if you are not going to write a single line.

I use a combination: Google Sheets for hard data and OneNote for screenshots with comments. OneNote�s advantage is that you can draw, highlight areas of the chart and leave notes as if it were a physical notebook. That mix of technical analysis with personal reflection is key. Sometimes the chart looks perfect, but you entered because of anxiety. If you don�t write it, you�re never going to detect it.

If you use Excel and you don�t have at least one dynamic table and a monthly evolution chart, you�re wasting the potential. This isn�t an emotion journal, it�s a business analysis. Each trader is a company. And if you don�t know what your profitable products are (setups)

I used Tradervue for a while and it�s not bad, but it�s too formal. I feel that more than helping me grow, it made me feel like I was doing accounting. I didn�t connect. I now use a mix between physical diary and screenshots saved by date folders. Maybe it�s not the most modern thing, but it works for me because it doesn�t put mental barriers.