Habits to avoid as a day trader
TRADING HABITS TO AVOID
00:00-00:42 Introduction.
00:45-01:23 Habit #1 Working to many hours.
There’s a reason the stock exchange has pre-set trading hours. The New York Stock Exchange’s official timings are between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. After-hours trading goes on until 8:00 p.m., but that does not mean day traders should stay glued to their screens until that time. The beauty of day-trading is the ability to live, and work with your own hours to some extent. Being a trader dose not really allow you to choose your own hourly schedule your strategy dose.
A report on American working hours says the average full-time worker logs 47 hours to their employer every week. That’s way higher than the same figure in Germany and Sweden, where the workweek is typically only 35 hours long.
In regards to trading. Invest in software and services that cut down research time and automate alerts. Let your scanners do the hard work. There’s no reason any trader should be stuck at their desk for this many hours a day. Now saying that. The truly successful traders are at there desk early and are leaving later than everyone else.
01:24-01:51 Habit #2, to avoid. Skipping Vacation.
As a trader, you’re are now technically a remote worker. Take advantage of that as much as possible, especially if you are single without kids or if you’ve retired. Learn to step away from trading, take a break and let yourself recharge. The markets have been around for a while and they are not going anywhere soon. I hope.
01:52-02:14 Habit #3 Eating at Your Desk.
The moment you leave the traditional workplace and start working for yourself, gone are the days you eat lunch at your desk. Turn off your computer and let those processors rest. Take at least 15 minutes to decompress. Skipping a wholesome lunch experience will keep you from reaching productive heights.
02:15-02:37 Habit #4, Working Without A Break.
Even beyond the scheduled lunch breaks, consider taking short strolls around the house or coffee shop that you trade from every couple of hours. When you board a plane, the flight safety videos are keen to teach passengers about the importance of blood circulation. Take a walk just for your heart’s sake!
02:38-03:11 Habit #5, Convenience Snacking.
Day traders and other kinds of remote workers are guilty of the mindless snacking curse. Your entire pantry is just a few feet away and access to every single one of your favorite munchies is available on a daily basis. The problem is, trading is a relatively sedentary job. Going to work at an office still offers opportunities to walk around and burn some calories, so. Stick to low-calorie popcorn or water to keep the calorie count low.
03:18-04:20 Habit #6, Addiction To Social Media.
This one’s big. As millennials take over day trading, distracted investing is becoming a major problem. Social media and trading software makes it difficult for your brain to focus on a specific function. True, the advent of the internet has allowed our minds to develop multi-tasking capabilities unparalleled in human history. Still, to get anything meaningful done, we need focus. Send out your daily Snapchat to maintain your streaks and then turn that device off. It needs to be just you and the computer for a few hours—everything else can wait.