Managing Your Trading Time

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by Andrea Wylan, Oct 15, 2020.

  1. Andrea Wylan

    Andrea Wylan Sponsor

    Managing Your Trading Time

    I know sometimes when I sit down to trade I say to myself I'm just going to take a quick look and do a quick trade. And then three hours later I'm still there! I don't know if this happens to you, but I wanted to write briefly about the importance of time boundaries around our trading.

    Just like the importance of having a trading plan and doing what we say we're going to do, planning it out ahead of time is important. I think it's so helpful to be clear of your intentions for when and how long you plan to sit in front of the market.

    This is another way of disciplining yourself and planning out exactly what you're going to do, and taking control of something that you do have control of. You have control over your time and how you're spending it.

    Everything we can do as traders to take control of our self is valuable, since that's all we can control. We cannot control the market. But we can control the aspects of ourselves.
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    When I work with traders, part of what they will put into the trading plan is restrictions around trading times. For example you might say, "I don't trade the open so I'll start trading at 9:45 AM Eastern time." Or, "after two hours of trading I noticed that my discipline slips, I start getting tired, and I make more mistakes. So, I trade from 9:30 at the open until 11 or 11:30 and then I stop. Even if I see a good trade setting up I walk away because I know my time at the market is over."

    This seems like a simple concept and yet it can be so important. And not always easy to implement.

    Can you relate to those days where you trade in the morning, have a couple of winning trades, only to trade in the afternoon and give it all back? I hear this type of scenario over and over again.

    I invite you to think about your own trading schedule and your own trading day and see if you have clear boundaries as to when you allow yourself to trade and when you wrap it up. Also, this may be something that changes over time. It seems to me that as traders get more experience they actually trade for less time.

    But it's really up to the individual and what works for you. So think about what works for you, get conscious about it, and perhaps add it to your trading plan if it's not there already! I hope this is helpful.

    Happy trading,

    Andrea
     
  2. smallfil

    smallfil

    Time is the most precious commodity because once, you waste it, it is gone forever. We do not know how much time we have in our lives. That is the reality of it. So, use your time wisely, each and every day. The same goes for stocktrading. Be like a sponge, soaking information by reading books, watching You Tube videos, even just meditating to focus on your trading. Doing a lot of reading and what I learned probably, will improve my trading by a huge deal. Time will tell as I do not day trade but, swing trade and position trade only. My trading results in 3 months time should be ample time to tell me if there is a huge improvement as far as results go.
     
  3. Tradex

    Tradex

    Don't worry my friend, there is still the afterlife.

    And this is where things start to get really interesting...
     
  4. Tradex

    Tradex

    I hear you Andrea! :D
     
    formikatrading likes this.
  5. smallfil

    smallfil

    Buddy, there would be no trading over there. No need for monies.
     
  6. deaddog

    deaddog

    No trading; What will I do with my time?

    Next you'll tell me no golf!!
     
  7. Tradex

    Tradex

    On the contrary, plenty of trading in Heaven (if you like), and the price will always hit your target immediately, as soon as you press the BUY or SELL button. And of course drawdown is always zero and leverage is unlimited! :D
     
  8. Tradex

    Tradex

    All jokes aside, I think the optimal move is to put the whole trading business on autopilot, especially if the trader is getting old (my case personally), and let the computer buy and sell for us.

    In that scenario, time spent in front of the trading station = zero.

    The trading rules must be clearly defined of course, otherwise it won't work.

    [​IMG]
     
    Andrea Wylan likes this.
  9. ondafringe

    ondafringe

    Reminds me of a scene from the movie Hud with Paul Newman.

    Preacher: "He's gone to a better place."

    Grandson: "Not unless dirt is a better place than air."
     
    Tradex likes this.
  10. never2old

    never2old

    important

    not quite me

    defined for me based on EST, from open, the first 30 minutes, 12 noon - 1:30pm, the last 30 minutes of the trading day. I also focus in on the last 5 minutes 3:55pm-4pm of option trades on stocks that I watch to see number of contracts trades & price.

    agree

    agree
     
    #10     Oct 16, 2020