--- title: 'Write the Plan Before the Trade: The Plan Gate | ohYaaa' description: A plan you can skip is a plan you will skip. Here is how a daily trade plan and a trade-entry gate change what you do in the first ten minutes of the session. url: https://www.ohyaatradingjournal.com/blog/write-the-plan-before-the-trade type: blog-post last_updated: '2026-10-14' --- # Write the Plan Before the Trade: How a Daily Trade Plan Gate Works By Hunter, Founder of ohYaaa · October 13, 2026 · Trading Discipline In short Require a short written plan, and optionally a completed checklist, before new trades dated today can be logged. Keep it to bias, levels, setups, risk limits and when you stop. Everyone agrees a trade plan is a good idea. Far fewer traders write one every day, because on the days it matters most, a fast open, a news morning, a revenge-prone Monday, writing feels like the thing you do after you have made some money back. A gate flips that. You cannot log today's trade until the plan exists. It is not a punishment. It is a pre-commitment, made on a calm day, that applies to the stressed version of you. ## What a daily plan should contain Short beats thorough. A plan you will actually write in under five minutes has five parts: 1. **Bias and why.** One or two sentences. If you cannot say why, you do not have a bias. 2. **Levels you care about.** Two or three, not twelve. 3. **The setups you will take.** By name, from your own setup list. Anything else is off-plan. 4. **Risk limits.** Max loss for the day, max trades, size. 5. **When you stop.** The condition or the clock that ends the session. If you use the [Market Intelligence](/market-intelligence) briefing, it fits naturally here: read it, then write the two levels you are taking from it. ## How the gate works in ohYaaa In your Profile, in the checklist settings, there are two optional requirements for trades dated today: - **Require the pre-market checklist.** All items must be checked. - **Require a daily trade plan.** The plan must reach a minimum length, which you set (the default is 100 characters). When a requirement is not met, adding a new trade for today is blocked and the form tells you exactly what is missing, for example "Write your daily trade plan, 42/100 characters". The plan itself is written on the day's panel in the [Calendar](/calendar), or in the pre-market popup, and it is editable any time. The time markers you add as you write do not count toward the minimum, so the length reflects what you actually wrote. The gate only applies to new trades dated today. Back-logging yesterday, or editing an existing trade, is never blocked, so a forgotten plan can never stop you from keeping your journal honest. ## Why the plan is worth reading afterwards The plan is also a record. When your reports run, days with a written plan can be compared with days without one: average day P&L, number of trades, mistakes. If your plan days are better, you now have evidence rather than a slogan. If they are not, the plan needs to be sharper, not abandoned. Review the plan against the day. Where you wrote "only the level reclaim" and then took four other trades, the gap between the sentence and the trade log is the most honest feedback you will get all week. Start with the lowest minimum you can tolerate. A ten-line plan you write every day beats a perfect one you write twice. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the plan gate block editing old trades? No. It only applies to new trades dated today. Back-logging and editing earlier trades are never blocked. ### How long does the plan need to be? You set the minimum in your Profile; the default is 100 characters. The time markers added while writing do not count. ## Keep reading - [Guard Windows: How to Stay Out of the Way of FOMC, CPI and NFP](/blog/guard-windows-fomc-cpi-nfp) - [Build a Pre-Market Briefing From the Traders You Already Follow](/blog/pre-market-briefing-from-traders-you-follow) - [What to Do Between Setups: Habits That Keep You From Forcing Trades](/blog/trading-habits-while-you-wait) [← Back to Blog](/blog) ## Start your trading journal today [Create Your Journal — Free](/app) Free forever. No credit card required.