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How do you stay focused while trading?


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How do you stay focused while trading?

  #11 (permalink)
 
LonnieMSP's Avatar
 LonnieMSP 
Minneapolis
 
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Turn off my cell phone and tell my GF to leave me alone during trading hours (much harder than it seems). FWIW.


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  #12 (permalink)
TheTradingDojoMX
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Trade just one market.

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  #13 (permalink)
 
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 SBtrader82   is a Vendor
 
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I will not answer your question but I will tell you something that might help you:
there is no shame in not being focused, we all get distracted and lose focus, some might also say that there is no real need to be focused at all. So you are completely free to be focused or not focused, in both cases nobody will judge or will consider you guilty of anything.
If you feel that focus is important, chose to focus! Otherwise relax and don't focus at all, and develop another strategy. Accept yourself and your current state of mind and don't focus on being focused.... you will end up very focused.

I cannot express this in any other way.... acceptance is more important than focus.

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  #14 (permalink)
 SpeculatorSeth   is a Vendor
 
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Man you guys dug up a really old one this time.

So my suggestion is that you don't really want to be focused ALL the time. Chemicals like norepinephrine that help you focus are not always in infinite supply in your brain. The more you focus the more that these chemicals get used up until you become fatigued and can't concentrate anymore. It is possible to stimulate the release of more chemicals, but that's not always possible or what you want. For instance, being in a life threatening situation can stimulate the release of more norepinephrine. So you might notice that when something is going against you it's a lot easier to laser focus in on the market. However, you might also notice that it's harder to act or make good decisions in this state too lol.

So the solution is to only be completely engaged when you really need to. Know the conditions that are favorable, have alerts setup, and only zone in when there's lots of opportunity. That does sometimes mean you might miss a fast opportunity, but it's better than going into fatigue induced tilt.

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  #15 (permalink)
wBobby
Santa Clara, California
 
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There is some clinical evidence to support the use of peppermint essential oil in aiding concentration.
Seriously. I started using it in my trading room at home, smells really strong. Maybe that's why it works!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103722/

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  #16 (permalink)
 
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 TickTricksta 
London, England
 
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For scalping I would limit myself to about one hour at the most. The human brain slows down its focus after just 20 minutes in and 60 minutes is around when you start to blur out too much.

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  #17 (permalink)
 1boomer 
Brisbane , Queensland
 
Posts: 10 since Mar 2022


TickTricksta View Post
For scalping I would limit myself to about one hour at the most. The human brain slows down its focus after just 20 minutes in and 60 minutes is around when you start to blur out too much.

That's a really good idea.

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  #18 (permalink)
 
Small Dog's Avatar
 Small Dog 
Sydney NSW Australia
 
Experience: Intermediate
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kevinhpchan View Post
What techniques do you all employ to stay focused on your charts and screen while trading? Especially scalping where you really can’t take your eyes of your indicators. I’m having a really hard time staying staying focused and tend to attempt to multi task.

Triple your position.

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  #19 (permalink)
 Keab 
London UK
 
Experience: Intermediate
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TWDsje View Post
Man you guys dug up a really old one this time.

So my suggestion is that you don't really want to be focused ALL the time. Chemicals like norepinephrine that help you focus are not always in infinite supply in your brain. The more you focus the more that these chemicals get used up until you become fatigued and can't concentrate anymore. It is possible to stimulate the release of more chemicals, but that's not always possible or what you want. For instance, being in a life threatening situation can stimulate the release of more norepinephrine. So you might notice that when something is going against you it's a lot easier to laser focus in on the market. However, you might also notice that it's harder to act or make good decisions in this state too lol.

So the solution is to only be completely engaged when you really need to. Know the conditions that are favorable, have alerts setup, and only zone in when there's lots of opportunity. That does sometimes mean you might miss a fast opportunity, but it's better than going into fatigue induced tilt.

Brilliant post, thanks for writing that.
To add to it, not trading at home would be a big help. Less distractions etc.
I do trade from home and struggle for focus as I have to wait for the market to enter certain zones which means waiting for periods of time. I have podcasts on in the background which I listen to which allows me to switch off during periods where price is not near my areas of interest. I'll still be looking at the charts and paying attention but I won't be fully engaged. I do really struggle with staying focused and this works best for me.
I also use a website blocker which is a big help too!

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  #20 (permalink)
 Lonhro 
New Zealand
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: Quantower, Tradingview
Trading: Eurex Futures/Crypto
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I use Brain FM and play it on the background. I find it helps me sustain focus on long periods of time. It also has a calming playlist. I definitely recommend it!

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