What do you do on your day off from trading? I don't mean Saturday. I'm talking about the day you take off from trading, on a weekday, to get away from the screens and the charts and the trading and the stress.
Taking a day off gives you a chance to step back and reclaim some of your personality. Here are two examples:
1. My friend Ariel took a couple days off from trading to go to an Expo, to meet with friends, to visit New York. He didn't even bring his computer. He was rewarded with a fresh perspective, good food, and he even say Erin Burnett at a restaurant in Manhattan. He didn't go to the Expo to learn new things about trading. He went to talk to his friend and recharge his batteries.
2. Another friend took a trip to the Red Sea (he lives in the Near East) to get away from trading during a time when he just did not feel like he was in sync with the market. He reclaimed his sense of place in the markets, felt that he got back his clarity of mind, and resumed making money when he returned.
It makes sense to give yourself a chance to think about something else besides trading. If you do it during the week, you prove that you are not owned by the markets, but that you own your own schedule, that you have the discipline to walk away every once in a while. Give it a try.
