Organize Yourself

This is one of the things that very few traders take care of. You need to be an organized trader physically as well as mentally in order to succeed. This may sound very simple and basic but in our experience it is an oft overlooked area

Organize your working place

If you trade from an office, try to keep it very clean and organized, this way you will feel comfortable trading in your working space. You will feel comfortable from the beginning of your trading day until the end. At the end of your trading day, leave it as clean as you found it. Psychologically this is important as it will focus your mind, increase self confidence and minimize distractions. If you are working from home, then it is a little harder, because nobody is watching you (other than family members who are probably harder to please than the boss at work…).

A former student used to trade that way, as soon as he woke up in the morning he would grab two laptops to his bed and start trading, with his pajamas on! Obviously, his performance was suffering, because he didn’t treat his trading as a business or a regular job. So we recommended he rent an office space, dress properly, and give the adequate importance to his trading career, his performance increased substantially. He is now trading for a living, and his performance is one of the best of our former members.

Treat your trading as a business, dress properly, if you work from home, then dedicate a whole room for your trading, and keep it clean and organized.

Maybe you do not need something as advanced as the picture to the left but you know what we mean

Have a schedule

One of the beauties and attractions of trading is that it allows a degree of freedom and independence. With that comes inherent dangers as it is easy to lack focus and allow your performance to suffer by not paying attention to your working process – so it is very useful to have a schedule and follow it rigorously.

Your schedule should look something like this:

6:30 AM Do a self-analysis
7:00 AM Do a daily analysis and review last session trades.
7:30 AM Start trading
1:00 PM Lunch time
2:00 PM Trading
4:00 PM Review the journal

Keep your trading journal well organized and follow your trading agenda.