Energy drinks I understand, but why coffee? It really helps one concentrate, cigarettes too from time to time.
Coffee increases blood pressure and interferes with body's natural metabolism. It has many side effects, like for example it may cause heart palpitations, dehydration etc. Actually coffee is a good medicine for some health problems. But as a regular food, it is a strict no for me. Just my experience.
Well I understand that it can be different for everyone how it affects them, I find it very helpful in concentrating. One shot of coffee a day would not hurt anyone though I think.
Thank you all for having replied. All of your replies seem to be based on your personal experiences. Imagine you are a train loco-pilot. The train has miles to go. It is so boring and there is nothing much to do for hours, and then, you need to quickly respond to a track signal. So, you need to concentrate and be vigilant while there is not much activity most of the time thereby causing dullness, Another example here: Imagine you are a night security guard. There is not much to do most of the time. You still need to be vigilant and respond quickly to events. My trading activity is similar to the above routines. Automating trading is a good answer. But there are some strategic issues to take into consideration, like, I change my scrips based on change in volatility. I scan through 179 scrips and just trade about 2 to 4 of them at any given point of time. This requires some deep thought. And I change capital deployed based on volatility. These issues don't make it easy to automate. Execution failures in automation is worrisome too. I hold my positions for days together. But I review my trailing stops based on 15 min bar close. Often those bar closes do not trigger any action. And then quickly I have to exit after having held the position for several days based on the previous 15 minute bar close. Once I exit, I scan through the scrips to look for fund deployment.
Staying off stimulants must really help you stay calm and focused during trades. How do you keep your energy levels up, especially on long trading days?
Falling asleep at the trading desk. if this is happening then you need rest and a long vacation for sure.
Some days I work on investing surplus money on long term shares. My trading is mostly rules driven. I generally have about 3 or less positions at any given time. Every time, a 15 minute bar closes, I take a decision if I should close a position or reverse it. If I had exited a position, I research into my list of stocks that are experiencing tradable volatility. I generally have two trades or less in a day. But checking charts is a routine.