A Notebook Routine Before the Open

Bangkok traders watching regional sessions often have a gap between the SET open and their primary instruments. That gap is easy to fill with scrolling. We encourage a different habit: a pre-open notebook page with three sections — overnight structure change, invalidation levels for open positions, and one new setup forming.

The notebook page uses the same grid we print in workshop workbooks. Horizontal lines for price levels, a narrow column for dates, and a wider column for notes on why a level matters. When a stop is hit, you can flip back and see whether the level was structural or improvised in the moment.

Participants who adopt this routine before our intermediate workshops report fewer impulsive stop adjustments during the session. The page becomes a contract with yourself: these are the levels; deviation requires a written reason.

We do not prescribe software. Some traders photograph the notebook page and attach it to their digital journal. The medium matters less than the act of writing the stop rationale before price moves.

If you attend a workshop, bring last month's notebook pages. The group critique of real pages — not hypothetical charts — is often the most valuable hour of the day.