A useful trading journal fits on one page per session

Record context before outcome

For each trade, keep the setup, entry, risk and a screenshot. Financial outcome comes afterwards; it should not overshadow decision quality.

Use error categories

Create stable categories: early entry, risk exceeded, exit outside plan or trade outside your window. Over several weeks, patterns become visible.

Review weekly

Choose one behaviour to keep and only one point to correct. This avoids changing an entire method after a poor day.