How Experienced Traders Maintain Their Focus On 12-Hour-Plus Days

Trading is all about keeping your eye on the ball. The slightest moves in asset prices or currency can signal massive profit opportunities. 

Maintaining your focus, though, is a challenge. The human body simply isn’t set up for the kind of lifestyles that traders lead. Focusing on charts and numbers for twelve hours a day or more isn’t something our ancestors ever had to do. In many ways, their lives were much better than ours. 

So what can you do to maintain your focus for that length of time, aside from drinking cup after cup of coffee?

Let’s take a look at some strategies open to you. After all, you can’t be a great trader unless your body can also go the distance. 

Switch Off The Radio

Sitting in front of a screen for hour after hour can get a little dull, especially on slow days. Sometimes the market isn’t convulsing in response to surging virus cases or presidential tweets. There are days where it is plain sailing. 

In this situation, it’s tempting to whack on the radio or listen to your favorite CD. But remember, there are still profitable trades you can make, requiring no less focus on your part. 

Where possible, work in silence. 

Try Standing Up

Sitting down in a chair in front of a computer screen all day long is terrible for your health, according to fstoppers.com. Therefore, many trendy traders are trying to hack their biochemistry to allow them to concentrate harder by standing up. Doing so, they believe, gives them the edge by keeping their minds sharp. 

Wear The Right Glasses

Straining to read numbers written on a screen is a big no-no, especially if you plan on spending the entire day in front of it. All traders, therefore, should be wearing the correct glasses.

Thanks to sites like Eyeglasses.com, the process of getting the right specs is much easier today than it ever was in the past. Ordering is simpler. And there’s a broader selection of glasses available. 

Even if you don’t have an eyesight diagnosis, you can still benefit from wearing glasses. So-called blue light spectacles filter out high-energy parts of the spectrum emitted by your monitor’s backlight - something that can make your eyes feel tired. 

Talk To Yourself

In most professions, talking to yourself is seen as a sign that you’ve finally lost it. But in trading, there’s evidence that it can actually help people. 

Thinking out loud is often better than doing so in the silence of your mind. It enables you to concretize your thoughts and ensure that what you’re doing makes sense. 

You don’t have to perform like Patrick Stewart doing Shakespeare on stage. Mumbling under your breath will suffice just so long as you’re activating your vocal cords. 

Review Your Rules

Every trader has a philosophy. And there’s a good reason for that. Following rules is essential. You need a scheme. 

Unfortunately, things can happen that make you question your rules. But remember, the whole point of them is to ensure that you don’t do anything rash. So, it can help to review your rules daily.