A lot of people get into trading with the hopes that they will someday trade for a living, there are a lot of fantastic opportunities to make money or to simply supplement your current income. It doesn’t really matter how much you want to be involved in trading forex, there are ways to earn. Many want to be full time, but many also want to do it part-time, to simply do it on the side in their spare time, doing it part-time means you do not need to invest quite as much time, energy, and work into what you would do when doing it full time but hen evolving that part-time trading into a full-time job.
Having said that, the majority of people who are trading in the markets today, it is more of a part time job or even a hobby rather than something that they are looking to do full time. One of the best things about forex trading is that you are able to trade when you want and you are also able to scale that trading accordingly, so you do not need to be full time in order to make a little extra on the side, it also allows you to work around your current job should you wish to. Trading forex part-time and trading when you want to allows you to put in enough time in order to make a consistent income to supplement your full-time job.
Trading forex for a living may not be the right route for you, it can be quite the gamble to quit your day job in order to go for this full time with a lot of pitfalls around to tip you up, trading full time is also not a short term plan, it is something a long way down the line as you cannot simply join and become instantly successful. Trading can be an incredibly exciting thing, with adrenaline running with every trade, people often decide to leave their jobs on the back of a good month, but do you really want to give up that guaranteed income from a job for something that is a little more temperamental?
So if you had the opportunity, would you go for a full-time trading position or a part-time one? If you were to ask a bunch of part time traders why they chose to do it part time rather than full time, you will get a whole range of different options.
There is a concept which is known as less is more, this concept is very relatable when it comes to forex trading. When we are trading full time, we want to get every single trading opportunity that presents itself, we are caught up in the emotions of trading and that is where things can start to go wrong when emotions get caught up in our trading. They cause us to make rushed decisions, or to put on trades that we otherwise never would have. Trading part-time gives us the option to step away, we know we won’t be getting every chance, we know we won’t be there 100% of the time and so we can pick and choose the trades that we take with much less if any pressure on us to perform, leading to better overall trading decisions.
One of the other things that part-time traders seem to really like is the fact that you are able to plan and trade around your other daily activities such as work, social interactions, and family life. It’s convenient for those that have a busy life especially at home where you simply won’t have the time to be a full-time trader. In the end, being able to become a successful part-time trader means that you don’t actually need to give anything up (apart from a bit of spare time) while becoming a full-time trader takes a lot of sacrifices, sacrifices that a lot of people do not want to make.
If you do decide to trade as a part-time trader, it is still a good idea to try and work out a kind of routine, many people try and fit it in either before or after work, an hour or two on either side of work is perfect as you are still in the working mood and will have the energy to put in the time and effort required. Having a routine makes things easier for you in the long run as you begin to get used to the system. Find the right time for you though, it may be different for every trader
Along with this, you also need to have your trading plan setu, this plan will detail many different things about your trading. These include the strategy that you are going to be using, your risk management, your trading rules, and anything else that you can think of, it will dictate how it is that you trade. Talking of strategies, make sure that you have one appropriate to your available time, there is no point using a strategy that requires you to be in front of the computer all day if you are only trading part time.
So let’s imagine that you are now going to be trading as a part time trader, let’s take a look at some example routines that you could be setting yourself.
- Do your major market analysis on the weekends, this way you are able to save time during the weekdays when you will actually be trading. The last thing that you want to happen when trading is to use up all of your time analysing the markets, only to find out that you no longer have any time to actually put on h trade.
- Ensure that you wake up at the same time each day, try and fit this into the good times for the markets, unfortunately, this is not always possible for everyone, if you are in the UK and on London time, waking up at 8 am will mean that it is 3 am in New York, not the eBay time for trading, but if you are consistent that you will work out the patterns and trends that occur at that time and so you can find some good trades still.
- Use your free time well, on the toilet? Check out some trading forums or news sites in order to get a little update, it may help you to further analyse or confirm the analysis that you did over the weekends. You don’t need to listen to everyone as it can be a little overwhelming but it is always good to get an idea of what other traders are thinking.
One of the other things that you need to understand is that trading as a part-timer is that it will take time for you to develop our systems and your routines, longer than it would if you were full time, simply due to the fact that you are not doing as much of it and not as often. As a part-timer, you will have a lot of time when you do not have any trades on and that is actually a good thing, this will help you to avoid over-trading, something that can be quite dangerous for a full-time trader.
You also need to set some goals, though you need to ensure that you set them realistically and relevant to what you are doing. As a part-time trader, you are not going to be making $100,000 overnight or each month, you will most likely be making less than your day job. As a part-time trader you should be looking to make a little extra, just ensure that you set them appropriately and that they are actually achievable.
So we will end this article with a few extra tips for you as a trader, you most likely will have heard them before, but it is important to put them down to ensure that you are aware of some of the things that you will need to do.
- Get yourself a trading style that will match your available schedule, there is no point trading a sculpting method that requires you to be in front of the screen at all times, instead get one that allows you to put on trades and then necessarily b around for the result
- Keep a trading journal, this is thrown about everywhere, but it is vital that you do it. It is very hard to improve as a trader if you do not have a trading journal to see how your trades are actually doing.
- Try not to get too focused on the trading, you are doing this part time, most likely because you have other priorities in your life too, do not let the trading take over your life.
- Pick the right time to trade both for you and the markets, there is no point in choosing a time in the middle of the night where you won’t always have the motivation to get up and trade or if there are literally no movements in the markets at the time you chose.
- Select a currency based on what you want to really get to know, learn that pair and trade that pair, try not to branch out too much until you really understand the technicals and fundamentals of this first currency pair.
- Don’t try to over trade in order to compensate for less time, this is the last thing that you want to do, instead take your time and make sure that each trade counts, it is better to be right on one trade than guessing many others.
So that is what it means to be a part-time trader and also a few things that you can do to make the experience a little better for yourself. Take the tips on board, look after yourself, and your other priorities, and then part-time trading could give you a real boost in life.
