Make your trading spot ideal for YOU!
What is your trading workstation like? Do you trade at your home computer, or on the go on your mobile device? When you trade binary options, do you do it in the middle of the day or at night? Is there a lot going on in the room around you? Is it noisy or quiet? How easy or hard do you find it to concentrate on your trades? These are all issues you need to address if you want to excel at binary options.
The environment where you conduct your trading is going to have an impact on your results, no getting around it. While some people really benefit from trading on the go, other traders absolutely cannot deal with the tiny screen on their mobile devices or the chaos of unpredictable surroundings. Those people will only trade on their computers at home. There are so many different factors to consider, and they all start with knowing your own personality and what your needs are for success.
Here are some questions you should ask yourself before you set up your trading environment:
- Do I work better with silence or noise? Is music better for my trading? Is there a particular kind of music that I am more likely to find conducive to smart trading decisions, concentration, and winning?
- Do other people in my environment distract me, or help me to stay level-headed? Do I focus better when I am on my own, or do I do better when I have someone nearby to help keep me accountable and focused?
- How much unpredictability in my environment can I deal with? Will I get distracted by unexpected sights or sounds? Should I trade in public, or avoid it and trade only in a controlled environment in my home?
- What time of day do I perform at my best? Am I a “morning person?” A night owl? Do I focus best in the middle of the day?
- How distracted am I by other obligations that I haven’t met?
- Can I multitask efficiently, or do I need to screen out all distractions?
- What materials do I need in front of me in order to perform at my best?
- Is there anything I shouldn’t have in front of me or do before trading? Do I have stressful activities I should be avoiding before I sit down to do a binary options trade?
If you haven’t thought hard about this, you are probably a typical trader. New traders often do not realize the impact that the quality of their environment can have on their trading. But now that you have thought about it a bit, you may realize that there are some things you could change to create improvements. Order and serenity in your environment helps to create the same in your mind. And that’s part of having a good trader psychology which is going to lead to sound trading decisions. Follow these 10 steps to help your profitability as well.
Here are some suggestions which should help you:
- Choose a time of day to look at the charts each day, and a time of day to trade each day. You may be one of those traders who can choose somewhat randomized times, but most people will do better with a schedule. Pick a schedule that will work around your other obligations and which will also help you to be present when the best trade opportunities are available.
- Talk to other people in your household about your trading environment, if you haven’t already. If you have housemates, a spouse, or children, and you don’t want them running into the room or being loud during trading hours, let them know why you need to concentrate and when they can come and talk to you again.
- Have a clean and organized workplace. Surrounding yourself with clutter unrelated to trading will distract you, and it will contribute to the chaos in your own mind. That makes it harder to trade.
- Decide what you will and will not do on your computer when you sit down to trade. You might think it is fine to have your email inbox open, deal with tasks related to your day job, or do other things online, but traders often report that this interferes with their productivity. It introduces stress, thoughts unrelated to trading, and anxieties that can take you out of the right mindset for success. You may want to limit your computer activities to trading activities only when you sit down to trade.
- Choose between sound or silence. Some traders actually focus better when they can hear background noises in their homes. Others prefer silence, and still others like to listen to music. If you look on trading forums, you’ll find whole threads where traders share what they like to listen to. Everyone has something different that helps them to focus.
The quality of your trading environment sets the tone for your trading. The ideal trading workstation will make it easier for you to concentrate, will screen out distractions and stressors, and will help you maintain a positive, confident state of mind. There is no single right way to do this, but once you think about your preferences, you will probably come up with some helpful changes to your own work area. Want to learn more about trader psychology? Check out 10 habits of successful traders.
Photo credits: Rough Day at the Office
