Hi all,

What is your level of focus while trading? Do you focus 100% on the market with no allowance for internet browsing, webinars etc? Please dont take listening to music into account here because im talking more about activities which require you to turn your attention away from the market.

I realize this will likely be different if you swing trade vs day trade. For those that day trade, do you trade for the whole day or only for a few hours. Secondly, for your chosen trading duration do you allow distractions or do you only watch the market.


I currently trade from 10:00 to 19:00 every day. Up until now I haven't had any hard and fast rule on having to focus only on the market (not sure if that's even possible for a 9 hour stretch?). But im finding that I get distracted as the day goes on and am probably not as focused as I should be. Im thinking of breaking up my day into sessions where at certain times of the day im allowed to browse the internet, watch a webinar etc (while still watching the market). Outside of those times, I have to focus 100% on the price action.

Please vote and discuss.

So as of yesterday I implemented specific times of the day where I have to focus 100% on the price action with no web browsing, webinars etc. For the 1st 2 hours after the London open, and then again for the last 2 hours of my trading day. In between those times I allow distractions but will still be trading.

Today is only the 2nd day of doing this but im already feeling more in tune with the market and am learning more about price action with no other distractions. It's amazing the small nuances you notice in the market if you're not able to check youtube, facebook etc every few minutes.

I trade for the first 1 to 2 hours and concentrate fully on the chart.

I used to allow distractions but was a lot less in tune with the market. There were missed setups,
entries made in a panic when I returned from the browser and being more ignorant of how the
market was behaving prior to a setup.

I am also in same boat as you @DarkPoolTrading
I started doing Meditation for Staying Mentally Focused While Trading. It does help me to stay focused during market.
Plus with Price action,We should always stay focused has every candle say something about price movement.

I'm "trading" from 5AM-3PM but I probably only look at the charts 2-4 hours a day. Rest is spent on the web. I only take 1-3 trades a day. If I was looking at charts 10 hours a day, I would be overtrading for sure.

mrBean888 

I trade for the first 1 to 2 hours and concentrate fully on the chart. I used to allow distractions but was a lot less in tune with the market. There were missed setups, entries made in a panic when I returned from the browser and being more ignorant of how the market was behaving prior to a setup.

Have you tried creating an indicator that makes a beep every new bar? I trade off volume charts so I never know when a bar closes (and potential setup) unless I'm staring at the chart all the time. Sometimes it takes 10 seconds to complete a volume bar, sometimes 20 minutes. I created an indicator that beeps on the close of every bar and I just check the charts whenever I hear a beep. The same thing can work for range and tick charts. I imagine if you're trading on a minute or hourly time frame, then it's not so hard to remember to check your charts every 5/15/etc minutes.

I am at the charts much of the day including ASIA, London, NY.
I have mixed levels of attention.
Near certain times of the day like the opens I am 100% focused on the market and charts for periods of 10-25min, at others I have varied levels of focus.