Time Management – Forex Academy

All traders at the end of the year always take stock of their own trading activity. There still exists an element that is never taken into account and therefore we tend to forget… How much value do we give to our time? Although it seems obvious, time cannot be “preserved”. It just passes. It is said that when we are born we are full of time, because we have a life ahead of us, but no one can quantify this wealth and no one can know how long a person’s life will last.

Even so, this wealth is a certainty, since time can be devoted to all things that free will allows. Bearing in mind that our choices will show us the way because at each decision we take new paths and leave others. This leads to a consequence: we spend more time on what motivates us the most. This motivation can be effective, economic, labor, sense of duty, etc. It is very interesting to know that on many occasions we use time as a currency of exchange.

Traders Exchange Time Continuously

This concept applies particularly well to a trader. He exchanges part of his time to have more availability of it, later. What does that mean? Invest money in the financial markets to get more of it and so have more time to live your life according to your desires and goals. Let me explain in detail what this phrase means.

Time and money are surely the two most important resources we have available to invest and make a profit. However, it is money that is really valued as an investment because it allows us, as a system of payment, exchange, and reference, to receive something in return.

Otherwise, when we invest our time, it is not so easy to quantify the return we will get, only in some cases will it give us a profit in the form of money. For example, in the event that we exchange our time with work to be rewarded with a salary. In others, the exchange is not tangible, for example, when we want to increase our knowledge through study.

Paradoxically, these resources have great similarities: both can be managed, lost, wasted, saved, they are not infinite, but the substantial difference is that only money can be earned. If money is lost, it can be recovered over time, but if time is lost, it can never be recovered, even by buying it.

Unconsciously, money is valued more than time, except by increasing age: older people value time more because they realize their lack. Time is available at no cost and is available at will. Moreover, it is the most equitable resource that exists: a priori, we all have it. The problem is your administration.

Different Uses of Time and Money

The same amount of money and time in the hands of different people will not match their uses, even if the source from which they come is the same. If it is easy to answer that time is the main resource we must fight for, we must be aware that money is decisive for our future. Buying new experiences or particular desires requires a significant monetary expense and an investment of time to enjoy them.

The needs of life and the time in which we live mark the future of events:

well-spent money costs little, while well-spent time is scarce and unwittingly spent

It is a good dilemma.

Time measurement precedes the creation of money and is often related to productivity. Benjamin Franklin said that “time is money” and explained that the time spent working to earn money was time well spent; otherwise, if time has been spent on other matters, the money has been lost. This reflection is correct only in its own context, outside it makes no sense because well-spent time not only generates money but also generates many benefits that go beyond money.

Both time and money are consumed even if nothing is done with them. If time passes, it is spent. If we do nothing with the money, like leaving it in a non-productive place, then inflation, over time, will despise its initial value. And this is one of the main theories of finance: while the price of money remains constant, its value fluctuates over time.

Time Must Be Devoted to Investment

In the world of investment, the results are obtained after having devoted much of our time to them. The paradox that to make money I have to invest my time and that if I have money I will have more control over my time, does not go beyond the fact that the reward of both is not proportional. Having a lot of money is not synonymous with having a lot of time.

Time is indifferent to the amount of money. Those who have obtained a significant amount of money have invested a lot of time in it and will also need a lot of time to manage it.

It is clear that everyone is happy in their own way, but those who have less money and more time to devote to themselves and their families may be happier. A study by the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science reveals that 64% of respondents prefer to have money for free time, even if the results changed when asked about happiness. In fact, it has been concluded that the amount of money accumulated is not proportional to happiness.

When a certain money limit is reached, by earning more, that additional amount is not proportional to the increase in happiness. In this sense, it is said, and rightly so, that the rich do not enjoy the same happiness as money. According to experts, this limit is at 60,000 euros per year. 60,000 euros a year? Someone will think: and how to reach them? But here an important reflection must enter.

Investing Time to Buy Time

The trader invests his time because more money improves the ability to use his time. Very true, but how do you use this time invested for this purpose? The trader must be really good at managing the time he dedicates to this profession. If the study of trading requires much of our time and dedication, it is also true that we should not launch it in a 10-hour session that brings nothing good.

Some will say it depends on how much you earn. That’s true, but only in part. If I have to destroy my psycho-physical balance to make money, there’s no point in working like this. Trading is said to be freedom, but this statement is the subtle line between good and evil.

If for the freedom we intend to spend money on totally useless luxury items or sit in front of the computer for many hours to end up repenting and burning our human contact with the outside world, happiness will never be there and this is clear to all. If instead, we refer to the possibility of having quality time, for example, staying with our loved ones or having experiences that enrich us as human beings, then everything changes.

Trading As a Process of Growth

Trading can be seen as a grand ladder: a path where we grow step by step first as people and then as operators. A continuous exchange of time and money that must have a higher quality of time available, but above all awareness of ourselves and how we want to live our lives.

Life… we know well that it is unique and we will never know the exact moment when we will leave. We must therefore be very responsible to ourselves throughout this journey. Negative emotions, the lack of objectives, and the inability to react in the difficult moments of this work must be prohibited.

Time is the most precious thing we have. Unfortunately, we rarely evaluate it consciously: it continues to diminish, inevitably tending to run towards a zero balance. Only in the future will we lose the past and this can never be recovered. Therefore, it is necessary to manage time: if you want to achieve something, the first thing is to realize it. It would be sad and illogical not to do so, it would be an act of self-denial.

Forex trading can take a long time. In fact, in order to place a single trade, it could take you up to a few hours of analysis before you actually place it. That doesn’t sound like the most efficient thing in the world and you would be right, it isn’t. Traders are always looking for things that they can do that will help them to speed up their trading abilities. To improve their productivity and to basically make trading forex quicker and simpler. That is why we are going to be looking at some of the things that you can do that will help speed up your productivity when it comes to forex trading.

Have A Predefined Plan

Having a plan already set out can make things incredibly simple and a lot quicker when it comes to actually placing your trades. This predefined plan basically means that you have your entry requirements already set up, a set of rules that dictate what trades you are going to be putting on and how you are going to put them on. These rules should be set in stone and go inline with your strategy. Having them there clear and simple means that you do not need to think as hard when you are there to place a trade which can increase your productivity as you are no longer needing to work out whether it is a good trade or not, you know whether it is or is not based on whether it matches your rules. If it does, then place the tread, if it does not then do not place it, as it would be a bad trade. Having these rules are paramount for being efficient, as well as profitable.

Remove Any Distractions

Distractions can be a real nightmare for your productivity, not just with forex trading but with pretty much anything that you are doing. Distractions can come from a lot of different sources from the TV, a radio, your phone, internet browsers, or even other people. If there is something around that can distract you, try and get rid of it. This may mean that your trading room is a little bare, and that is fine, as long as it enables you to concentrate on what you are doing. As soon as you start to procrastinate, looking at or doing other things, your productivity will plummet. Avoid this as best as you can. Of course some distractions you cannot avoid, the postman at your door for example, but as long as you control the ones that you are able to, you should be able to keep your productivity high.

Avoid Bad Trades

Productivity is not all about placing trades. You could place 100 trades a day, but this does not mean that you are being productive. All it means is that you are placing a lot of trades. Instead, you should try and focus on placing good trades, trades that are in line with your trading strategy, and trades that will give you the best chances of being profitable. If you simply place random or lots of trades, then there is a good chance that some of them will be losers. As soon as you lose a trade, your overall productivity will decrease. So instead you will want to focus on the good trades, each one will have a better chance of profits, which is your overall goal and the overall measurement of your productivity.

Reward Yourself

There is no better motivator to work hard than a reward, so reward yourself. It will help you to want to keep going and to work harder. If we constantly work and don’t receive anything back, why are we doing it? It will demotivate us, make us not want to bother doing too much which will be detrimental to our overall trading productivity, it will drop if we are not motivated to work. So reward yourself regularly. It doesn’t need to be very large rewards. A little bit of your profits or a nice meal out should be enough. Reward yourself, motivate yourself often and you will see your overall productivity levels rise.

Take Breaks

This may seem to be counter-productive. Taking a break means that you will be away from your computer and away from making trades, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is a good thing and can very easily improve your overall productivity. Taking breaks allows you to refresh both your mind and your body. If we do the same thing over and over for a long period of time we will become bored. We will become tired and we will start to make mistakes. That is why taking breaks is so important, it allows us to remain fresh when we are trading. This freshness means that we are able to concentrate more and will be able to better ensure that we are placing good trades, not to mention the speed at which we can place them will also improve.

Get Plenty of Rest

There is nothing better to refresh us than a good night’s sleep. Your brain needs time to switch off and to recover, not to mention the fact that we have all experienced what it is like to not sleep properly. You are sluggish, make mistakes, and are far more irritable than when we have had a good night’s sleep. This is why it is so important to try and sleep. Along with this, it may be beneficial to choose a trading strategy that does not require you to be up in the middle of the night, one that allows you to take advantage of your bed and to sleep the entire way through the night. If not, then at least try to get a minimum of 6 hours sleep a night, at a minimum to ensure that you are up and alert the next day ready to trade.

Set Alarms

Let’s be honest, we have all had those trading sessions where we are sat at the computer for hours and absolutely nothing happens, there have been no trade opportunities available to us. We can avoid this by simply setting up alarms and alerts. These alerts can let us know when the market conditions are favourable for us and this will enable us to get away from the screen and to avoid wasting time simply sitting there. We can take a break, we can do some laundry, cooking anything rather than simply sitting there doing nothing, and becoming frustrated. These alerts mean that we are only actively trading when the markets are in the right condition, which will also keep our mind free and fresh for when we actually need to place our trades. These Arts can also work forever, meaning that we can set them and they will alert us every time in the future when the conditions are right.

Those are just a few of the things that you can do that will help to ensure that your trading productivity remains high. They will enable you to place far better trades at a much quicker pace, will help you to become profitable, and will enable you to be a better trader overall.