I am interested in some feedback from traders who get no compensation or salary when on vacation ... how difficult is it for you to completely walk away for a week or two and block off thoughts of trading and income Also if you plan your time away far in advance or if it is after a big drawdown or big winning month or when you sort of feel burned out (if you can recognize this ... all the better) Seth
I've tried taking vacation without my laptop and got burned on some positions I held. Now I always pack my laptop for peace of mind !
I just spent 7 weeks in Australia and New Zealand in December and January. Never turned on a computer to look at the market Stuart
Here's a good article below written by my mentor, David Floyd. He has taught me everything I know about trading, including taking time off. Not only taking time off, but taking quality time off. Just sitting at home watching CNBC does not constitute time off. Dave insists that we go to a movie, take a road trip, something that is out of your everyday schedule. When you return you feel reset and refreshed. I'll tell you just how significant this point is. I've been trading for Dave here in San Diego for exactly 5 months and a day. I've done fairly well trading, not making a ton but not losing anything. So we went skiing up north last weekend and returned to the office on Monday refreshed and ready to go (and sore as hell too). I had my best week ever. My account is positive now and next month I will take my first check as a professional trader. I attribute a lot of this to our getaway last weekend. Anyway heres's the link:http://www.careerdaytrader.com/articles/timeoff.shtml
Good trader psychology question Your probably going to get many different answer or suggestions because we all have unique different personalities. For me, as a former collegiate athlete...I need some very physical activity when I take my 3 day weekends or vacation getaways to take my mind of the trading game...which in turns helps me re-energize mentally. I'm the King of 3day weekends and I take them often (1 to 2 times per month). Just like your trading...you'll need to practice practice practice to find out what works and what doesn't to get your mind off trading regardless if your profitable for the week or not. Trading is such a mental game...probably and arguably more important than any particular trade setup...a week or two weeks vacation per year in my opinion is not enough and probably not good stress management if its the only thing a trader does all year to get away from trading. I think what's more important than VACATIONS is learning how to relax, re-engergize after EACH TRADING DAY in preparing to succeed the following day. What if you have a planned VACATION 3 months from now...but currently your in a big drawdown with tons of stress, anxiety and so on...are you suppose to wait 3 months to get trading off your mind? That's why I favor being more SPONTANEOUS in vacations or getaways from the trading game than planned getaways. Besides...the spouse loves getaway surprises Regardless if I'm profitable or at a loss for the month...I reward myself financially (buying a luxury item) when I do well. If its a drawdown month or week...I just spend more time trying to rest the mind via exercising, lots of walks, massages, saunas and anything that forces the mind to concentrate on something else like going out to see a movie (by the way...a movie at the theatre is an excellent relaxing tool). A friend of mine sees a movie every week during the trading week...not on weekends to help him forget about trading. I'm no psychologists although my spouse has a masters degree in psychology...signs of Burn-out...I would think would be moodiness, drastic change in eating habits, insomnia, headaches, back pain (from tense muscles), not wanting to prepare properly for the next trading day and so on. I see trading like a sporting event. Throughout the season...I try to better my technique, learn and hope my winners are more than my losers. Than...as the season progress (happy with winners no matter how small or unimportant)...I want to be peaking going into conference championships. _________________________ Reviewing all trading notes...rehearsing profitable patterns in my mind...vision how I would react if the price goes my way...more importantly, vision how I would react if the price goes against me. Thus, nothing is new to me when it actually occurs...I just react. _________________________ Concentrating on doing well and placing as high as possible to qualify for some sort'uv national championships. Then...once at nationals...I try to set some records or beat someone nobody expected me to beat (equivalent to that monster-buck profit trade that comes once or twice a year). SethArb...as I mentioned before, we are all different in our mind game of trading. Practice your stress management techniques and have fun doing it...trading too. Nihaba Ashi
Ironically some of my WORST days have been on the heels of a vacation. Besides the obvious of being out of "sync", the biggest drawback for me when I get back home is the want for permanant vacay. Hanging out under the palms is the best... until I'm back in cold Chi-town, overtrading and trying to make enough $ so I can retire and live the good life forever.
Anytime during the summer is good. Anytime at all. LOL There aren't nearly as many opportunities then.
I wish to thanks everyone who found time and energy to reply to my questions about vacations and time off from trading. now ... I think its time for me to take a vacation from trading and do 5 loads of laundry (yikes) seth
I take some long walks. When you walk, you can THINK. You can't think very well sittting before your screen.
Trading volume (on an annual basis) is probably a good indicator for when to take a vacation. Volume seems to drop most in the summer (i.e. July and August) ... that would probably be the best time to take a vacation. Volume presumably drops during that time because most of the traders are on vacation, LOL. Also, some people only trade Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and have a long weekend (3 to 4 days).