Forex trading can get very exciting, especially when big sums are at stake and the market is highly volatile.
Imagine all those young millionaires whose stories and testimonies you have heard and see the possibilities of joining their ranks. Isn’t that enough to knock your socks off?
Unfortunately, very many traders lose out on achieving their potential. The reason for their failure is very simple: A lack of focus.
When you lose focus, you let go of your goals and settle for mediocre results. To keep your focus, you need to get rid of all distractions.
There are some common distractions traders face and below are 10 of the best and easiest ways to rid yourself of them.
1. Choose Your View
When at your trading station, what do you see around you? Some traders prefer sitting by the window as the view outside calms their nerves.
However, if sitting by the window always gets you distracted by the activities happening outside, consider placing your workstation away from the window.
You can also opt to close the window altogether. If there are pictures on the walls that take your mind off your price charts or a television set that takes away your focus then consider moving to another room.
2. Choose Your Company
Successful traders have the benefit of choosing to work from home or wherever they like.
The downside is that the people closest to you may not understand that you need some quiet time to earn your bread.
A spouse or kids may make demands on your time and attention and this may affect the profitability of your trades.
If working from home, you should make sure to inform everyone within the household that particular times of the day are “no disturb” times.
If you are working from a public place such as a café, make sure to order your food and drinks well before your trading hours.
Inform the wait staff that you do not want to be disturbed. Remember to give a generous tip for the privacy and space!
3. Invest In the Right Tools
Are you trading using all the wrong tools? Using an app that’s meant for your smartphone on your computer may lessen your chances of making profits.
Using an old platform may slow you down yet your contemporaries are using the latest software.
Relying on a slow internet connection may frustrate and distract all your trading efforts and cause you to make poor trading choices.
Use the right gadgets and pair them up with the right software for best results.
4. Acquire the Correct Mindset
You are only as good as you think you are. If you think you are not going to make profits trading, then you might just as well donate to your favorite charity and expect nothing in return.
As a trader, you need to have utmost faith in your abilities and in your trading strategy.
Use sound methods for your analysis and believe that they will provide positive results.
If your strategies fail, learn from them and create better ones and keep gunning for the profits you know rightfully belong to you.
5. Find Your Ideal Time Frame
If you are the kind of person who gets impatient staring at a price chart for 10 minutes it makes no sense to trade 4-hour time frames.
You will get distracted and this will ruin your trading strategy. Knowing the best time frames for you to trade will keep your interest high, your mind sharp, and your trade orders on point.
6. Pick Your News Carefully
Whenever you switch on the TV set, there are always all these experts predicting doom and sometimes boom.
You can take your chances and follow the ones you think are trustworthy but you cannot follow all of them.
For every expert that predicts boom, there is always another with facts and figures showing imminent doom.
Additionally, the news is always full of news that seem to have an impact on economics, trade, and currency prices.
Know which ones really matter to your trade and which ones don’t.
7. Switch off Non-Essential Gadgets
Most traders spend a lot of time online searching for trade news and sometimes simply socializing.
With the “internet of everything”, we now have more gadgets connecting us to Facebook, email, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Skype, and all sorts of chats and entertainment.
If like most people you find this a distraction, log out of all social media and email accounts when settling in to work.
Switch off your phone, radios, television, and all other gadgets that may cause distractions during those critical times when you are conducting your analysis and making your trade orders.
8. Rein In Your Emotions
If you have ever been to a racetrack, you might have noticed a few people in the audience mimicking the actions of the jockeys on the horses.
These are usually gamblers who have placed heavy bets on their favorite horses and hoping against all hope for a win.
Traders usually face the same excitement when price charts start showing erratic behavior or when there is a steady increase or decline in prices.
This gives rise to emotions such as fear, anxiety, and greed and these may induce the trader into messing with his strategy.
Trading on emotion is self-sabotage and professional traders should always keep their cool to maximize on their trade decisions.
9. Develop and Stick To Your Strategy and System
Most traders come up with the best trading strategies and systems. A strategy is simply why you trade while a system is how you make your trades.
Nonetheless, these superb systems and strategies are nothing if they are not followed to the letter.
Letting outside influences interfere with your trade is financial suicide. Develop a good trading strategy and a working system and stick to them to avoid harmful distractions.
10. Review Your Journals
Keeping a journal should be part of every trader’s strategy. However, it is not enough to just keep a record of what you did and why you did it.
Make it a point to always study your past behavior by reviewing your trade journals.
This will identify all those areas where you were distracted and it will help you formulate ways to avoid future distractions.
Conclusion
Trade distractions will always lead to financial destruction. You need to stay focused to reap the maximum benefits of trading.
These 10 tricks are easy to implement and they are important actions that should form part of your daily trading habits.
Photo credit: Khalid-almasoud
