Forex trading requires a lot of focus and you should be able to avoid all kinds of distractions while carrying out the trading process. Because even a small careless mistake can cost you a lot when you are trading Read More
7 Tips to Stay Focused While Trading The biggest distraction that all of us have in our lives is the smartphones that we use. Our phones have a lot of different apps and it is constantly buzzing with notifications. Because of this, we are unable to focus on any task as we keep checking our phones all day long. Even trading platforms like MT4 and MT5 are available for mobile trading as traders can download trading app that suits their trading style from the chosen broker’s website. Mobile trading has become a lot more popular as many of us prefer to trade on the go but trading on your desktop is better as you can keep the phone away and concentrate on the trading process. If you still need your phone, mute the notifications and avoid scrolling social media apps to save time. A lot of distractions come from our surroundings and environment. We often talk about the work environment when it is about a corporate job. But for an independent profession like forex trading, the environment where you engage in trading needs to be quiet and free from distractions. You can use a study room as your trading room and it would be ideal for avoiding distractions. Make sure that all the things you need for trading are right before your eyes. This not only includes your computer system or other trading tools but also having basic items like drinking water by your side. Because staying hydrated is just as important for remaining focused on your work as a trader. Many traders don’t follow a fixed schedule and this lack of routine really makes it harder as you will be unable to concentrate. If you have better focus in the morning, you need to set your trading hours based on that. Those who are night owls or those who are part-time traders will find it easier to trade at night when they are free. If you try to trade on your phone while you are working at the office, it may not go well as you will be in a rush. So, choose to trade at a time when you can give undivided attention to market analysis and trading. We always talk about the importance of having a well-defined trading plan so that way you will be on the right track throughout your trading journey. But in order to maintain and improve your focus, you need to plan your trades in advance by deciding the entry and exit points including the stop loss and take profit levels. When you don’t plan your trades beforehand, you are more likely to struggle to concentrate as the forex market is always moving and there will be a lot of trading opportunities. When you have a solid strategy, you can filter all the information based on what you are looking for and this automatically improves your focus. You can make use of different trading calculators to plan your trades better. Tools to calculate position size, margin, leverage and more will provide you with accurate values, which will certainly help with risk management. Forex demo accounts are perfect for practising and enhancing your skills in a risk-free space. However many traders don’t spend enough time on demo accounts and jump into live trading. Trading with real money will be stressful when you are a beginner and the stress itself can distract you from the trading process. A lack of experience and knowledge can make you more anxious. The only solution for this problem is getting familiar with the trading platform and market fluctuations. On a Forex demo account, you can trade for free using virtual funds and learn how the market works. By doing so, you will learn to handle the stress of trading to some extent if you follow a serious approach. You are not going to risk any real money and you won’t have to worry about losses. But still, you will get some realistic trading experience in real-time market conditions and this will help you to focus more while trading on a live account. Another tip to improve your focus is practising mindfulness and stress management. Having a lot of thoughts in our heads reduces our ability to pay attention to what we are doing at the moment. This can happen during the trading process too and when you are worried about the end result of a trade, you won’t be able to make a rational decision. Practices like mindfulness help you to stay calm and focused. I already talked about the stress of trading and actively managing this stress is important to improve your concentration. To reduce stress, you can try relaxing exercises like yoga or meditation and also read books on the topic of trading psychology. This gives you better control over your emotions and focus on logic while making trading decisions. One major reason behind traders’ inability to concentrate is not taking enough rest. Lack of sleep and long hours of work can be exhausting for anybody and it won’t be possible to focus on trading, resulting in losses. Hence, you need to take a break from trading and rest for a while before resuming. Watching charts all day long can drain your energy and you don’t need to do that even if you are a day trader or scalper. You may fear missing trading opportunities, which may force you to monitor the market for long hours. But doing so can lead to overtrading and it also affects the quality of your trades. Thus, you need to limit your screen time and spare some time to do things that you enjoy. This will refresh your mind and you will have a lot more energy to focus on trading. Broaden your scope of Focus We often think about focus as being able to concentrate on only one task at a time but it may not be practical or possible all the time. As a trader, you will have to analyse the price charts for finding trade setups but at the same time, you need to keep an eye on the news to avoid placing trades when there is volatility after a news event. Hence, the focus is on being able to make a sound decision after considering different aspects. Sum Up To summarise, every new trader struggles to stay focused at the beginning of their trading journey. But you can surely improve your focus by developing trading discipline and following the tips that I have shared in this article.
