Most traders have very similar problems and go through the same struggles. After having worked with hundreds of different traders on Edgewonk.com, we know exactly what keeps them from achieving the success they are after. Here are the most common problems we see daily:
Note: Edgewonk.com is a professional trading journal software, developed by and with the authors of Tradeciety. Edgewonk is our passion project and we created our own trading journal so that all traders have a chance to make it in this business.
Common problems for traders
- Repeating the same patterns and mistakes
When we boil it down, traders keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Very often, there are just 2-3 things that a trader needs to change in order to achieve much better trading results. However, most are not aware of those problems and how close they are to profitable trading.
- Not being able to quantify the impacts of their mistakes
Just by showing traders how much money they are losing and by making them aware of the expensive mistakes, many traders will change their behavior much faster. A trader without a routine or a trading journal does not even know what is keeping him from success – we will show you how a trading routine will change that.
Most traders just fire up their trading platform in the morning, flip through timeframes and markets, hunting for signals. However, they don’t really know what they are looking for and many traders spend all day glued to the charts, hunting for trades. Obviously, this is not how a professional and structured trader approaches his trading. This then leads to chasing trades, missing trading opportunities and lots of frustration.
- Not knowing what works and what doesn’t
The final problem is that many traders don’t know what works for them, which trades and setups perform best and how they can take more of such trades. At the same time, they don’t know which markets and setups to avoid and are left clueless. This eventually leads to system hopping which creates a vicious cycle for traders.
How to overcome those problems
There is much more to a trading routine than most people think and in the next step I will give you very practical examples how you can create a quick routine with Edgewonk that will take care most of the common problems.
The goals of a trading routine should be the following:
Before any behavior can be changed, it’s important to create awareness. If you don’t know that you are doing something wrong, or that you keep repeating the same mistakes, how can you change it?
By writing down your trades and re-living them once again during the act of journaling, the lessons sink in much clearer. When you remove the stress and emotions of live trading and you sit down by yourself with your trading journal, you can objectively look at your behavior.
We have seen and heard it from dozens of our students. Many became sick of entering the same mistake for the 10th or 15th time in their trading journal and when they were about to take such a trade again, they reminded themselves that they shouldn’t do it and that the last 10 times, they lost money. A trading journal is, thus, your constant companion and mentor who is looking over your shoulder.
- Create a process and structure
Obviously, a trading routine has the goal to give you structure and tell you when to do certain things. This avoids a lot of confusion and cluelessness. And especially if you are not a full-time trader and you are juggling work, family and hobbies, it’s important to manage your time.
In Edgewonk, we have combined all different trading tools in one place so that you can create a time-effective routine all in one place. We’ll get into the specifics later.
A trader who knows what is working for him, what isn’t and who knows how to manage his time and how to approach his trading, can trade with much more confidence. Confidence is important and you have to trust in your abilities, skills and your trading method to make the best trading decisions. A routine holds it all together.
How Edgewonk helps
The question now is: how can Edgewonk help me achieve all that at the same time?
We spend a lot of time and effort on trying to solve all the problems traders have. In Edgewonk, we combine different tools and features which allow traders to have their whole trading routine in one place.
Finally, here are the different components of a trading routine and how Edgewonk fits in:
Before you start your trading day, briefly go over your recent trades. We recommend to at least check your last 10 trades, or the current trading week. In Edgewonk, you want to review your Tiltmeter to see if your trading behavior is on point or if you keep breaking rules. Then, take a look at your “Reward Risk Ratio Traffic Lights” – if they show mostly red, it means that your reward:risk ratios are too small, you keep cutting winners short, or you let losses run too long. Finally, take a brief look at your lastly entered “Trading Session” to remind yourself of important notes that you wrote earlier.
A pre-trading check should not take longer than 10 minutes. If you find negative patterns or notice things that need your attention, write them on a post-it and place it next to your desk as a reminder.
After you are done with your trading, enter all your trades. Take your time here and relive them. Don’t go over this point too fast. This is maybe one of the best practices to create awareness for your own trading and improve your mental side. A journal forces you to be honest with yourself but it’s the single best way to change unwanted behavioral patterns.
- Post session check & weekend review
At the end of each day and during the weekend, perform a thorough review. Go over today’s trades and go over your current/last week.
Again, you can start with the Tiltmeter to get an idea for how well you respect your rules. You can also consult your Trade Management graph to analyze your trading behavior. Go to your Chartbook and click through your recent trade screenshots; if you are a technical trader, your screenshots should look very similar. If you notice big differences, it could highlight problems in your execution. Finally, go to your Sessions tab and create a new session for your last trading week.
And that’s it when it comes to creating a time-effective and worthwhile trading routine. Edgewonk offers all the things you need when it comes to having a trading routine and it will take your trading to the next level. If you want to separate yourself from the regular amateur trader, create a routine is what will make the difference in your trading.
