TRADRILL / GUIDE / PRACTICE METHODS
How to Review Your Trades Weekly: A Working Template
Written by DUOCODE TECHNOLOGYPublished and reviewed 7 min read
A weekly trade review is a fixed 30–45 minute session with a template, run at the same time each week, that answers three questions: which rules did I follow or break (counted per setup), what did my losses consist of, and what is the single process change for next week. It is deliberately different from a trading journal: the journal captures each trade when it happens; the weekly review aggregates the journal into behavior — one is data entry, the other is the analysis that changes next week's decisions.
The discipline payoff compounds through costs, not just trades. FINRA notes that frequent trading adds direct and indirect costs and can hurt performance — but you cannot manage what you only feel. Counting rule breaks, unplanned entries and post-loss attempts from your own log turns “I traded badly this week” into “six of eleven entries were outside the plan, all after 2 pm,” which is a correctable finding.[1]
Short answer
- Fix the slot: same time weekly, 30–45 minutes, template ready before you open the journal.
- Count process metrics — rule adherence per setup, loss anatomy, post-loss behavior — before looking at P&L.
- End with exactly one process change for next week, written as a rule, not a resolution.
- Grade by rule-following; outcomes are context, because simulated or short-run results prove little either way.
Journaling is logging; reviewing is aggregating
Most traders who “review” are actually re-reading trades one by one, reliving decisions. A journal entry answers “what happened on this trade?” A weekly review answers “what did I repeatedly do?” — patterns across entries: which setup earns your rule-following, which hour hosts your rule breaks, whether losses cluster in normal stop-outs or in improvised decisions. If your review has no counts, it is a diary; diaries feel therapeutic and change nothing.
The template: five blocks, one page
The template fits on one page. Fill the first three blocks from the journal without judgment, then interpret, then decide. A reasonable rhythm is Sunday evening or any fixed slot after the week's last session closes.
| Block | What you fill in | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Volume & mix | Trades taken vs. planned; by setup, by session, by hour | Did I trade my plan or my mood? |
| 2. Rule adherence | % of entries matching the plan; list each break with one-line cause | Where exactly does discipline leak? |
| 3. Loss anatomy | Normal stop-outs vs. moved stops vs. unplanned adds vs. revenge entries | What are my losses made of? |
| 4. One interpretation | The single biggest behavioral pattern, in one sentence | What is the story the numbers tell? |
| 5. One process change | A concrete rule for next week (add/edit/limit) | What changes on Monday? |
Keep block 5 to exactly one change. Ten simultaneous corrections is a wish list; one written rule has a chance of surviving contact with the market.
Metrics worth counting (and ones that mislead)
Process metrics to count: rule-adherence rate overall and per setup; number of unplanned entries; post-loss behavior (trades within your pause window vs. after it); sizing exceptions; stop-outs accepted vs. moved; attempt-limit breaches. These describe your controllable behavior.
Treat outcome metrics as context, not verdicts. A profitable week with 50% adherence is a warning; a losing week with full adherence may be variance. And keep the simulation boundary honest — if the week's data is simulated, the CFTC's hypothetical-performance rules are the reminder that simulated results have inherent limitations. The review's object is your behavior, which transfers; your P&L, which does not.[2]
- Count: adherence %, unplanned entries, sizing exceptions, moved stops, post-pause entries, attempt breaches.
- Context: P&L, win rate, average R — report them, but never grade the week by them.
- Skip: anything you cannot act on (“the market was choppy”) — the review reviews you, not the market.
Five review questions that actually change behavior
Close the template with these, in writing. Each one converts a number into next week's rule.
- Which setup had the highest adherence, and does it deserve more of my attempt budget next week?
- Which hour or day hosted most rule breaks, and what limit should exist there (shorter session, no entries after N pm)?
- What did my first trade after my worst loss look like — and what pause rule would have prevented it?
- Which “one-time exception” appeared more than once this month, and what standing rule replaces it?
- What did I not trade that my plan permitted — and was skipping it discipline or fear to examine next week?
Making the ritual stick
Reviews die from friction and from vagueness. Kill friction: template pre-made, slot fixed in the calendar, journal complete (a gap-filled journal makes the review guesswork). Kill vagueness: every block ends in a number or a sentence, and block 5 is a rule with a trigger — “no entries in the first 15 minutes after a stop-out,” not “be more patient.”
Software can carry part of the load. Tradrill is an AI trading education platform where you practice in a simulated trading terminal and get AI behavioral feedback that quantifies the real cost of habits like revenge trading, loss chasing and overtrading, plus weekly discipline reports — no trade signals or auto-trading. It automates exactly the counting layer of this template so your 30 minutes go to interpretation and the one rule that matters.
Investor.gov's paper-trading guidance applies to the review habit as well: practice environments are for learning how you behave before money forces the lesson. Review simulated weeks with the same seriousness as live ones — the counting muscle has to exist before the stakes do.[3]
Weekly review checklist
Same slot every week; 30–45 minutes; template printed or open before starting.
- Journal complete for the whole week before the review begins.
- Blocks 1–3 filled with counts, not impressions.
- One-sentence interpretation written (block 4).
- Exactly one process change (block 5), phrased as a rule with a trigger.
- Last week's rule checked: followed, partly followed, or broken — and what happens next.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a weekly review different from a trading journal?
- A journal is per-trade logging at the moment it happens; a weekly review aggregates the week's journal into counts and one behavior change. Journaling answers “what happened on this trade?” and the review answers “what did I repeatedly do, and what single rule changes next week?” You need both, and the review does not work without the journal.
- How long should a weekly review take?
- Plan 30–45 minutes at a fixed weekly slot. Longer usually means the journal has gaps and you are reconstructing instead of counting; shorter usually means impressions replaced numbers. The template's five blocks keep the timebox honest.
- Should I review profitable weeks at all?
- Yes — especially for rule adherence. A profitable week with 50% adherence is more dangerous than a losing week with full adherence, because the profit reinforces the rule-breaking. The review grades process; outcomes are context.
- Can AI do the review for me?
- AI can automate the counting layer — adherence rates, unplanned entries, post-loss behavior — and surface patterns you would miss. The interpretation and the single rule change should stay with you: the review changes next week's decisions precisely because you make them. Treat AI output as behavioral analysis, never as trading signals or advice.
Related guides
- TRADRILL / GUIDE / PRACTICE ROUTINEHow to Keep a Trading Journal (for Practice)A trading journal that records your decisions and rule-following, not just profit and loss: what to log, a short review cadence, and what a journal can and cannot prove.
- TRADRILL / GUIDE / PRACTICE ROUTINEHow to Build a Trading PlanA step-by-step trading plan you can actually follow: set goals and risk tolerance, size risk capital, write a pre-trade checklist and per-trade rules, and rehearse it in a simulator before risking money.
- TRADRILL / GUIDE / TRADING DISCIPLINEHow to Stop Revenge Trading: Measure What It CostsA practical, non-signal routine for interrupting revenge trading: name the trigger, lock the next decision, quantify rule breaks and rehearse the pause in simulation.
- TRADRILL / GUIDE / TRADING DISCIPLINELoss Chasing vs. Averaging Down: The Real DifferenceLoss chasing and averaging down look identical on a chart — adding to a losing position. The difference is whether the addition was written in the plan before the first entry. Here is the four-question test.
Sources and further reading
Regulatory sources consulted for the trading-cost, hypothetical-performance and practice boundaries in this guide. Accessed 15 August 2026.
One page, one rule, every week
The weekly review works because it is small and repeatable: five blocks, real counts, one process change with a trigger. Tradrill automates the counting with AI behavioral feedback and weekly discipline reports, so your half hour goes to the decision — no signals, no financial advice.
Educational guidance only, not financial advice. Tradrill provides no trading signals, no auto-trading and no financial advice. Simulated results have inherent limitations.