Takes at least a week to get into the right mind-frame after a break. After even just a week off I come back and feel like so much has changed in the market, it takes me a week to start re-digesting news and sentiment etc and start to get my rhythm back.
It should not matter one little bit, if you take 2 weeks off, or 2 years off - as long as you know what you are doing, and when to stay away if you start doing things that you know you should not be doing! The biggest problem, for many, can be the inability to stick with what you know works best - but of course one has to discover what works best for one first! It is fair to say, that, there is probably no more than a dozen books that I have come across, where, the author has clearly shown that what he writes about, makes sense. The reality is, that, even though they all make sense, and the way they put forward their info looks like it works repeatedly - which is the goal of course - they can not all be "right" with different ways of doing things - or - can they!!! If they are all "right", then there has to be a common denominator - as it can't be pure chance! The facts are such, that, there is indeed a common denominator, and, once you are aware of this common denominator, then, it does not matter one little bit if you take one day, or one year, off from trading - as the common denominator is the same no matter what day you decide to trade! So, there you have it - the "edge", the "holy grail", the "obvious", the "what ever" you want to call it - it is just a simple common denominator that every successful trader has come to known, but, for some silly reason (sometimes called taking money from others) most can not explain it in simple layman's terms. Work out the common denominator and you will see all of these people for what they really are - nothing special at all, not even the great "masters" like Gann, Elliot, Livermore, etc, etc etc......... J_S
I "lose it", so to speak, after I've traded for too long without any rest, to be honest. If I stare at the charts for days on end without any rest at some point everything starts looking the same to me.