How To Journal Crypto Trades Properly: Step-by-Step Guide

Why Bother Journaling?

Let's be honest: most traders who try journaling quit within two weeks. They start with elaborate systems—20 fields per trade, paragraphs of analysis, screenshots of every chart. Then life happens, they skip a few trades, and the whole habit collapses.

But here's the thing: traders who maintain consistent journals dramatically outperform those who don't. Not because journaling is magic, but because it forces you to see your trading objectively. You can't improve what you don't measure.

This guide is different. Instead of giving you an overwhelming "complete" system, we'll start with the minimum viable journal—something so quick and simple that you'll actually maintain it. You can always add complexity later, after the habit is locked in.

Step 1: Choose Your Tool

The right choice is whatever you'll actually use. A spreadsheet you maintain beats an app you abandon. That said, apps like Thrive reduce friction significantly—CSV import means you don't manually enter every trade, and preset tags mean logging takes seconds instead of minutes.

If you're just starting, try a spreadsheet for one week. If you find yourself skipping entries because it's too tedious, switch to an app. The goal is consistency, not purity.

Step 2: Set Up Your Required Fields

Start with only these fields. Adding more before you have the habit locked in is a mistake.

The Minimum Viable Journal (8 Fields)

• Date/Time: When you closed the trade
• Asset: What you traded (BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.)
• Direction: Long or Short
• Entry Price: Your average fill
• Exit Price: Your average close
• Position Size: Quantity traded
• P&L: Dollar profit or loss (calculate this)
• Emotion Tag: Your emotional state (from preset list)

That's it. Eight fields. If you use an app with CSV import, the first seven are automatic—you only manually add the emotion tag.

Adding Strategy Tags (Recommended)

After you've logged 10-20 trades consistently, add one more field:

• Strategy: Which setup triggered the trade (from your preset list)

This lets you analyze which strategies actually make money for you. But don't add it on day one—build the core habit first.

Step 3: Create Your Emotion Tags

Emotions are the most undertracked and most valuable data point in trading. But you won't track them if you have to describe your feelings in words each time. The solution: preset tags that you select with one click.

Recommended Emotion Tags

• Confident: Clear plan, comfortable with the risk, felt good about the setup
• Anxious: Nervous, second-guessing, uncomfortable but took the trade anyway
• FOMO: Fear of missing out—chased the entry or position because it was "moving"
• Revenge: Trading to make back a loss, emotional rather than strategic
• Bored: No good setups, traded for something to do
• Disciplined: Followed rules exactly, regardless of outcome
• Tired: Low energy, end of session, brain fog
• Excited: Hyped about the setup, possibly overconfident

After 50-100 trades, you'll be able to calculate your win rate by emotion. Most traders discover that "Disciplined" and "Confident" trades have significantly higher win rates than "FOMO," "Revenge," or "Bored" trades. This data lets you create a simple rule: if you notice FOMO, don't trade. The journal gives you the evidence to trust that rule.

Example: A Complete Trade Entry

Here's what a properly journaled trade looks like. Notice how the essential fields capture everything you need without requiring paragraphs of writing:

Step 4: Create Your Strategy Tags

Most traders use 3-5 main strategies even if they don't realize it. By tagging each trade with the setup that triggered it, you can measure which strategies actually have positive expectancy for you.

Example Strategy Tags

• Breakout: Price breaking through resistance or support with volume
• Support Bounce: Long at support with confirmation
• Resistance Rejection: Short at resistance with confirmation
• Trend Follow: Entry in direction of established trend
• Reversal: Counter-trend entry based on exhaustion signals
• Range Trade: Buying low and selling high within a range
• News Trade: Reaction to specific news or events
• Scalp: Quick in-and-out trade based on momentum

Your list will be different. The key is that each tag represents a distinct type of trade that you actually take. If you never trade news, don't include it. If you have a specific setup like "Hidden Divergence Long," add it.

After analyzing 50+ trades by strategy, most traders discover that 1-2 of their strategies generate most of their profits while others break even or lose money. This is incredibly valuable information that's invisible without journaling.

Step 5: The Daily Logging Routine

Consistency beats completeness. Here's the exact routine that works:

Immediately After Each Trade (30-60 Seconds)

1. Import trade data OR manually enter the 7 core fields
2. Select your emotion tag (one click)
3. Select your strategy tag (one click)
4. Optional: Add a one-sentence note if something stands out

That's it. Don't write paragraphs. Don't analyze the chart. Don't second-guess the trade. Just log the data and move on. The analysis comes later.

End of Session (5 Minutes)

• Review today's entries for completeness
• Fill in any missing tags
• Add a one-sentence summary: "Good discipline today" or "Overtraded in the afternoon"
• Glance at daily P&L (but don't dwell on it)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Writing too much: Long entries create friction. Keep it brief.
• Skipping losers: You must log every trade, especially the bad ones.
• Waiting until later: "I'll log it tonight" becomes "I forgot."
• Analyzing during logging: Just capture data. Analyze in reviews.

Step 6: The Weekly Review

This is where journaling pays off. Without weekly reviews, you have a trade log. With reviews, you have a system for continuous improvement.

Weekly Review Checklist (30-45 Minutes)

1. Calculate core metrics:
   • Total P&L this week
   • Number of trades
   • Win rate (winners / total)
   • Average winner vs. average loser
2. Analyze by emotion:
   • Win rate by emotion tag
   • P&L by emotion tag
   • Identify your best and worst emotional states
3. Analyze by strategy:
   • Win rate by strategy
   • P&L by strategy
   • Which strategies are actually working?
4. Identify patterns:
   • What do your winners have in common?
   • What do your losers have in common?
   • Any time-of-day patterns?
5. Set one improvement goal:
   • Based on your analysis, pick ONE thing to focus on next week
   • Examples: "Don't trade when tired" or "Avoid FOMO entries"

Visualizing Your Performance

Your journal data should be easy to visualize. Here's an example of performance metrics that reveal patterns at a glance:

Step 7: The Monthly Deep Dive

Once a month, zoom out and assess the bigger picture.

Monthly Review Questions (1-2 Hours)

• Is your overall P&L trending up, down, or sideways?
• Are you improving at the goal you set last month?
• Which strategy deserves more capital based on performance data?
• Which strategy should you stop trading entirely?
• Are your emotional patterns improving?
• What's your win rate at different times of day?
• What's your win rate on different days of the week?
• What one change would have the biggest impact on your results?

The monthly review is where you make strategic decisions. Maybe you discover that your "Breakout" strategy has a 62% win rate while your "Reversal" strategy has 38%. That's a clear signal to focus on breakouts and reduce reversal trades.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"I keep forgetting to log trades"

Set a rule: you can't close your trading app until the journal entry is complete. Or use a tool with exchange integration that imports trades automatically—you only need to add the emotional tag.

"I don't know what emotion to pick"

Go with your first instinct. There's no wrong answer. If you genuinely felt neutral, pick "Disciplined" or add a "Neutral" tag. The goal is honest self-assessment, not perfection.

"I skip logging on bad days"

This is the most common failure mode, and it destroys your data quality. Bad days are exactly when you need to journal most. Force yourself to log even when you're upset. Keep entries brief on these days—just the data, no analysis.

"I have too many trades to journal"

If you're making 50+ trades per day, you absolutely need automated import. Use CSV export from your exchange and batch import into your journal. Then add emotion tags in batches during your end-of-session review.

"I don't see any patterns"

You need more data. Patterns typically emerge after 50-100 trades. Keep journaling consistently, and they'll appear. If they still don't after 100+ trades, you might need to add more context fields or refine your strategy tags.

Journaling Tools Compared

Here's how the main options stack up for crypto trade journaling:

Frequently Asked Questions

Your Getting Started Checklist

Here's exactly what to do today to start journaling properly:

The Compound Effect of Journaling

Journaling doesn't produce overnight transformations. It produces compound improvement over weeks and months. Each trade you log adds to your dataset. Each weekly review reveals one more pattern. Each pattern you act on makes you slightly better.

After one month, you'll know your win rate and have a sense of your emotional patterns. After three months, you'll know which strategies work and which don't. After six months, you'll have made multiple adjustments based on data and seen measurable improvement.

The traders who journal consistently for a year have an enormous edge over those who trade on instinct alone. They know their numbers. They've eliminated their worst habits. They've doubled down on what works.

The only question is whether you'll be one of them.