Just curious how others manage their lifestyles. Sometimes, I am just too drained after work to work on anything. Too risky to work on anything large-scale while at work, and weekends are a toss-up.
I often talk about sacrifices on ET soon I get deleted because owner of the site doesn't think it makes the site HAPPY so they delete me and I show up again and start talking about how you have to sacrifice a lot to make it in trading for example, I can't imagine working and researching trading at the same time YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TIME UNTIL YOU TAKE TIME
i feel your pain. since my work days are pretty grueling (12-14 hrs on average) i usually set aside large chunks of the weekends for most of my personal work. sure, i get sidetracked with friends visiting the city or the frequent work events every now and then but as long as you stay focused, finding time shouldn't be a problem.
Firstly I am a semi automated mechanical EOD system trader - i refuse to partake in intra day trading. And yes i work full time. I took 3 mths off purely for development purposes. Once that's done the daily routine is something like: come home from work download data make dinner do dishes throw kid in bath run systems over data and extract signals dry kid and put in pajamas, give bottle check orders placed with the broker put kid to bed I keep up with the news and trade performance at work, but no touchy. If i have a flash of inspiration, i take time during the week to write the code and backtest - often during the kids after lunch sleep on the weekend. Usually it's just mods to systems, the framework is done already so the "new idea -to- test" time is usually pretty quick. It comes down to priorities, finding time is the easy part - giving up the other stuff is the hard part. pneuma
the most time effecient solution i have found so far whilst holding down a 12hr/day job thats sux.....get your idea's coded up by a professional programmer....money well spent!!
I have a fully automated system and I am a full time (even if I am momentarily part-time, until 3.30 PM) employee at a bank, and these are the advantages I see: 1) working has the advantage of keeping me away from trading, because I usually just lose money if I trade discretionary. 2) it has had the advantage until now that whenever I blew out my trading accounts, I could start again thanks to my salary. 3) it has had the advantage that for a few years, when I was working in a place where there was nothing to do all day, I studied excel extensively. 4) it has now the advantage that my job is so disgusting that it's a drive to succeed, so I can quit it. 5) Practicing excel at work - for my present job (not the one where there was nothing to do, and I studied excel on manuals) - and doing things that I can use at home on my systems that are excel-based. These are the disadvantages I see (apart of course from the job itself - having to work with people I don't like, doing things I don't like, sleeping less that I want to sleep, and so on): 1) Tired from work, eyesight may get damaged from so much computer (I spend about 12 hours a day looking at the computer screen). 2) the drive to succeed - being my job so disgusting - may be too strong and may push me to use reckless money management in order to make money faster (that is why twice this year, I went up 500%, but then lost it all in just one month). 3) I probably could get used to having free time, if I wasn't working, and learn to stay away from trading. So, one of the advantages is not really that much of an advantage.
I developed my system after work & traveling over the period of a few years. I then came to the realization that much of my effort & mental capacity was already drained by the time I finished working my day job. After I realized this, I then began working on things for 2 hrs before going into work every day and my progress improved dramatically. I also spent any remaining mental capacity working on the system after work hours. Eric
I had no life, and I mean, zero life, while I was working at a broker / dealer (head of electronic trading of all things), and developing my own system "on the side". It was pure ego, really. I wrote a business proposal for the firm, to expand into automated trading (01-02), and the firm (foolishly) didn't want to do it. The executive committee didn't want to pony up the capital to build out the infrastructure. So I was "royally" pissed off, it seemed like a golden opportunity was passing me by. I kinda of told myself "fuck it, I will do it myself. And show these idiots what they are missing". Usually my day there starts at 7 am (IR derivatives start at 7:30, we all know that), and I work on the desk until 7pm. I phone some food to be delivered to my apt, get home at 8-8:30, and work on my own stuff until 11:30, then crash. 6 days a week. You know how it goes, you work at least 1/2 day for the "job" on the weekends. Then i went out with my friends to have one drink on sat night, sunday is full blown self work mode. Yeah, it was terrible, I didn't even have time to get a hair cut. But you know, it worked (suck on this, b*tches!) And it was oh so totally worth it. Oh and my old firm got bought out, and a lot of ppl got fired after the "merger". Boy the ego satisfaction, was too much for words to describe.
You reminded me of my initial interview at the bank where I work now. When I told the manager (who headed the investment division, with as many as 1000 people under him) that I wanted to work with the traders because I was interested in the markets, especially in trading systems, he replied that trading systems do not exist and that it's impossible to predict the markets. I figured he probably became so powerful without knowing anything because all he did was kissing up to his boss all his life. Then this despicable person put me in an office - with a bunch of idiots - where you just input securities with all their identification codes (ISIN, CUSIP, SEDOL) into the bank's system (so others can trade them), like an idiot. I ended up spending 2 years there. People worked 2 hours a day, doing very stupid things, so I studied excel. Basically I got paid to develop my own system, during work. But I haven't gotten as far as you did yet. What you made come true, is my dream, too. But nobody ever believes in me when I tell them about trading systems, even my parents. They say it will cause me financial ruin. They almost think it's a hopeless addiction, like playing bingo. If my dream will ever come true, I will owe nothing to all these people around me. I will owe a lot to this forum and another one and to all the people who helped me online.