Conquering the boredom of day trading

A client of mine emailed me today, wanting to know how I handle the boredom and loneliness that can come from day trading full time as a career. It’s a great question, and one I wish more would-be traders would consider before they quit their day jobs and turn to the markets for a living.

Working from home in your underpants always sounds wonderful when you read about it in the ads, but the reality can be quite shocking if you’re used to being surrounded by co-workers. A lot depends on your personality, of course, how much you tend to socialize with others. But even if you never talk to another human being all day in your day job, chances are you’ll at least see other people. Going from that kind of environment to being cooped up in your own house all day is a pretty big change for anyone.

When I first started day trading, I used to sit in front of my trading screen all day. Like most self-employed traders who trade with their own account, I worked alone. It’s the best way, distractions can be expensive. But I must admit that it started to get a bit boring at times, especially at lunchtime when the markets are quieter. Sitting around waiting for business opportunities to appear, with no one to talk to, suddenly seemed less glamorous!

However, once I got better and gained some experience, the problem resolved itself. You see, now I only change for a couple of hours in the morning. About an hour before the market opens is spent doing a little research to pick the stocks I’ll be watching for the day. Then I change them between 10 am and noon, that is, a maximum of two hours.

During that time, I have ten to twenty stocks to watch, and they usually move a lot (at least they should, if I did my research and picked the best ones for the day). So I keep busy. keeping track of those.

Focusing on those fast-moving stocks, looking at possible trade setups, and managing any open trades, is enough work to keep me busy for a couple of hours. There is no time to get bored. If things calm down, I just stop early. Many days I finish everything at 11 am.

So the simple answer to my clients’ question is that I don’t have time to be bored. And I really don’t feel lonely for the same reason. In fact, one of the main reasons I started trading was so I could spend a lot less time working and more time with my family and friends. Working only in the mornings means I have the rest of the day to do just that.