FLOW Process · April 2026 · ~4 min
The pre-market checklist: ten minutes before the open
Pilots run a checklist before takeoff — not because they can't fly, but because under pressure, humans skip steps. Trading is the same: the quality of your decisions after the open is mostly decided in the ten minutes before it.
A minimal checklist
- Context (2 min): overnight indices; today's data and events with times (central banks, CPI, earnings);
- Key levels (3 min): yesterday's high/low and daily support/resistance on your watchlist — draw them on the chart;
- Today's plan (3 min): one sentence per candidate — "at level X, on signal Y, do Z, stop at W";
- Risk budget (1 min): max loss today, max number of trades; hit either line, done for the day;
- Self-check (1 min): sleep, mood, time available? If poor, cut size or sit out.
After the open, only execute
The checklist front-loads thinking into the calm hours; after the open only matching and executing remain: price reaches a planned level, you act; it doesn't, you sit. Mid-session ideas get written down, not traded — evaluate them after the close.
Tip: hang alerts on the key levels and let the terminal watch the tape; you return to the screen only when one fires. For after the close, see the review method.