There is one noticeable difference between a beginner and a professional trader: a professional trader has a trading routine while a beginner's trading looks more like chaos.
Most of the mistakes in the Forex are made due to emotional decisions and confusion. To avoid such mistakes you need a trading routine. Only a truly disciplined trader can eventually succeed.
Start from Your Workspace
When we are surrounded by a mess, it is more difficult for us to concentrate. Chaos from the outside world fulfills our heads and makes it impossible to work properly. That is why building your routine should begin with the arrangement of your workplace.
Start from your desktop. Remove excess items, leave only the necessary. If nothing catches your eye, then you won’t be distracted.
Do the same thing with your trading platform. Your charts should be clean and tidy, contain only key levels. Remove all excess from your platform on the computer and mobile device.
Get a Daily Routine
The idea that each trading day will be similar to the previous one can drive you into longing. But only this way you can be successful.
Morning
Start every morning with an analysis of the market situation:
- Define a trend: bullish (upward), bearish (downward), or flat (sideways)
- Pay attention to higher or lower highs and lows
- Mark important horizontal levels on the charts: support, resistance, EMA
- Pay attention to other important signs: consolidation areas, price turning points, important figures around key levels
The second important step for every morning is checking the world news for the day. Even if you do not use fundamental analysis for daily trading, you still need to know when the price can behave unusually, and adapt your plan accordingly.
Day
A couple of important tips for day trading:
- When analyzing the market, start with a weekly chart, and then proceed to a daily chart.
- Plan ahead how many times and when you will check the charts for suitable trading setups. Do not spend all day looking at your screen.
- If you use expert advisors (EAs), plan when you will check their work. Even robots need control.
Evening
Spend your evenings preparing for the following day:
- If you have long positions, check the news and charts and adjust your trades to transition to the next day.
- Get a trading journal and mark every trade you make during the day.
- Analyze your today’s trades and prepare a trading plan for tomorrow.
Make the Most of the Weekend
If you think that when the market is closed you have nothing to do, then you are wrong. The more productive you work on the weekend is, the more successful your next trading week will be.
So how can you use these days:
- Analyze all your trades over the past week. Based on this analysis, make corrections to your trading plan, if necessary.
- Examine the charts: draw new key levels, mark important figures and signals.
- Check out the world news for the next week. This will save you time during your trading mornings.
Trading Mindset
The way you think determines all your actions. If you want to become a successful trader, then you need to make discipline a part of your life. It is way too difficult to stay focused in one particular area when in other aspects of your life there is complete chaos.
Put your life in order. Create new good habits like planning ahead, cleaning, making lists.
Once you become more focused in your daily life, your trading results will improve.
A Few More Words
Don’t try finding a perfect routine right from the start. You will be able to improve it every day, analyzing your trading results.
If you can’t decide what to begin with, you can ask for assistance from professional traders. They will help you to get the basic skills and the right mindset.
And one more thing: do not exhaust yourself. Always take breaks from trading and get enough sleep. Then your daily routine will turn into a pleasant pastime with a great bonus in the form of profit.