# Trading Routine and Reviews > A trading routine keeps decisions consistent. See a sample daily routine plus weekly and monthly review steps that turn your journal into better results. Source: https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/trading-routine-and-reviews/ Track: Start Here · Level: Beginner · Updated: 2026-10-03 Publisher: TradeLabs AI (https://tradelabsai.com). Education, not financial advice. Cite as: TradeLabs Learn, "Trading Routine and Reviews", https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/trading-routine-and-reviews/ A trading routine is the fixed set of things you do before, during and after the market every day, plus the deeper reviews you run each week and month. Consistent traders are rarely more talented than inconsistent ones. They are more repetitive: they prepare the same way, trade the same way and review the same way, which makes their results easier to understand and improve. ## The daily routine A daily routine has three parts. Here is a sample for a swing trader who trades US stocks after work; adjust the times to your style. ### Before you trade (15 to 30 minutes) 1. **Check your state.** Sleep, stress and mood. If you are not in a good state, trade smaller or not at all. See [Mental State Tracking](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/psychology/mental-state-tracking/). 2. **Review open positions.** Confirm stops and targets are in place. 3. **Check the calendar.** Earnings, economic releases and central bank meetings that could affect your positions or watchlist. See [Trading Economic Releases](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/macro/trading-economic-releases/). 4. **Scan for setups.** Run through your watchlist looking only for your defined setups. 5. **Plan the orders.** For each candidate, fill in the [Pre-Trade Checklist](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/pre-trade-checklist/) and write the entry, stop, target and size. ### While trading - Place planned orders, ideally as [Bracket Orders](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/orders/bracket-orders/), then step away if your style allows. - Do not add trades that were not planned unless they pass the full checklist. - Stop for the day if your [Maximum Trade Risk and Daily Loss Limits](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/risk/daily-loss-limit/) is hit. ### After trading (10 to 20 minutes) - Log every trade and every skipped setup in your [Trading Journal](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/trading-journal/), with screenshots. - Note one thing you did well and one thing to improve. - Update open position notes for tomorrow. ## The weekly review Once a week, usually at the weekend, spend 30 to 60 minutes on a deeper look: 1. **Read every trade from the week.** Grade each one A, B or C for plan adherence, as described in [Post-Trade Analysis](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/post-trade-analysis/). 2. **Count rule breaks.** What was the most expensive mistake? 3. **Check risk.** Did any trade exceed your risk rule? Was total open risk ever too high? 4. **Review the market.** What kind of week was it: trending, choppy, volatile? Did your setups suit it? 5. **Plan next week.** Upcoming events, markets to focus on, one behaviour to work on. ## The monthly review Each month, step back further and use numbers: | Measure | Why it matters | |---|---| | Number of trades | Too many may mean overtrading; too few may mean hesitation | | Win rate and average win and loss in R | Together they give your [Expectancy](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/risk/expectancy/) | | Results by setup | Shows which setups deserve more focus | | Results by time and market | Finds conditions where you underperform | | Maximum drawdown | Shows whether risk rules held | | Average grade | Tracks discipline independently of results | Then make **one** change to your plan for next month, based on evidence, and write it down. Changing many things at once makes it impossible to know what helped. **Example: A monthly review finding** In March a trader took 41 trades with an expectancy of +0.08R. Splitting by grade: 29 A grade trades at +0.36R and 12 C grade trades at minus 0.60R. The plan works; the C grade trades, mostly taken on Fridays after losses, are the problem. April rule: no new trades after a losing Thursday or on Friday afternoons. ## Keeping the routine sustainable - **Keep it short.** A routine you can do in under an hour a day lasts. A three hour routine gets skipped. - **Use templates.** The same journal template and checklist every time make the routine automatic. - **Schedule it.** Put reviews in your calendar like appointments. - **Take breaks.** A planned week off after a drawdown or a long run is part of a healthy routine. ## Common mistakes - **Skipping the after trading step on bad days**, when the information is most valuable. - **Turning reviews into self criticism** instead of finding specific, fixable issues. - **Reviewing results but never changing anything.** ## Frequently asked questions ### What should a trader do every day? Check their own state, review open positions and the event calendar, plan any trades with a checklist, execute only planned trades, and log everything afterwards. ### How long should a trading review take? A few minutes per trade daily, 30 to 60 minutes weekly and one to two hours monthly is a common rhythm. ### What is the most important part of a trading routine? The review. Preparation and execution matter, but reviewing is what turns experience into improvement. Next, see how to measure your own progress as a trader in [Skill Development and Progress Tracking](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/trading-skill-development/). ## Continue learning - Next lesson: [Skill Development and Progress Tracking](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/trading-skill-development/) - Previous lesson: [Post-Trade Analysis](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/post-trade-analysis/) - Related: [Post-Trade Analysis](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/post-trade-analysis/): Post-trade analysis turns every trade into a lesson. Learn how to grade decisions separately from results, find repeat mistakes and improve your plan. - Related: [Trading Journal](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/trading-journal/): A trading journal records every trade so you can find what works and what keeps costing you. Learn what to log, a template and how to review it. - Related: [Building a Trading Plan](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/building-a-trading-plan/): A trading plan is your written rules for what, when and how much to trade. Learn the parts of a good plan, see a complete example and build your own. - Related: [Pre-Trade Checklist](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/start-here/pre-trade-checklist/): A pre-trade checklist stops impulsive trades. Use these twelve checks on setup, risk, costs, news and your own state of mind before you place any order. - Related: [Mental State Tracking](https://learn.tradelabsai.com/psychology/mental-state-tracking/): Mental state tracking means rating your mood, sleep and focus before trading and linking it to results. Learn a simple scoring system and how to use it.