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.
