Trainee Trader

In life as in trading it is important to maintain a clear focus. It can be extremely hard to maintain ones focus, as I am sure we have all experienced. Recently I have found my focus waning hence the need for me to re-evaluate my approach not just to trading but to everyday life also. Here are five tips that will help you regain focus.

Audit what you spend your time on

Before investigating where you want to be it is important to know where you are. An easy way to start this process is to audit your time. By writing down what you currently spend your time doing will help you determine areas of inefficiency and give you a good starting point for change. To jump start this process I have attached a spreadsheet that I use to audit where I spend my time, it is broken down in hourly blocks.

This is a very important step in regaining focus. After doing this I have found several areas of inefficiency that I will be addressing. This process allows you to identify time sinks, or tasks that suck up large portions of your time. By focusing on fewer tasks clarity and focus of the reaming tasks is much simpler.

Zen to Done

Review your trading journal

By analyzing your trading journal you can gain an insight into how well your current strategy is working for you, the success or failures of discretionary trades. Pay particular attention to the time and day you have entered trades, R multiples and any comments you have made about a trade. This will also allow you to identify the day and times that are most profitable for you. Another key metric is the standard deviation of your returns.

Trading Journal Checklist

Always be long on sleep

Sleep is one commodity you should never short. There have been numerous academic studies that have investigated sleep deprivation and optimal performance. It is widely accepted that sleep deprivation impacts performance and temporal memory. As I am not a medical expert I can’t advise how many hours sleep a night you should get. I know myself that I need at minimum 7 hours of sleep a night. If you are not getting enough sleep this is one thing that you can change quite simply and may even improve your trading performance.

Don’t spread yourself to thin

There is a big wide world out there with new information coming in at a phenomenal pace. As a trader it can be very tempting to watch the news wires nearly 24 hours a day. I personally watch the Asian trading session wait for London to open and then don’t stop watching my monitors till the end of the New York morning session. If I go out I have Reuters and real-time currency and stock prices on my phone, I get an SMS whenever there is breaking news. This is definitely overkill. Wherever possible establish a time period that you wish to trade and then stick to it. This is important as I am finding out that I need to focus my attention more on the Asian session rather then trying to do it all.

Get outside and get moving

Trading is a very sedentary occupation most of the day is spent sitting in front of usually 3 to four LCD monitors in an air-conditioned office. The closest thing to exercise most of us get is walking to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. There have been several academic studies that show that exercise helps improve mental clarity and over training actually reduces mental clarity. It is important to get the balance right, I personally need to increase the amount of exercise that I do. An easy way to start is to ensure that you walk for at least 30 minutes everyday (you should consult a medical professional before undertaking any exercise program). The benefit of walking outside is two fold you get a nice dose of vitamin D from the sun and you can also clear your head.

Exercise and mental performance

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