Let’s talk about procrastination and how you can overcome trading procrastination. First, let’s be honest; we are all prone to putting things off. Trading procrastination is a broad term. It can apply to everything from putting off building a trade plan to not taking a trade that meets your rules to finding excuses not to journal.
The key to overcoming trading procrastination is to realize how and when you put things off and then put a plan in place to change the behavior. Here are 7 top tips to help you do that.
1. Identify In What Areas Your Trading Procrastination Happens
As we mentioned above, there are many areas where procrastination can creep in. The first time is to take a good honest look at your trading and identify where you put things off.
2. Try To Understand The Why Behind Your Trading Procrastination
Once you have pinpointed the areas in which you procrastinate, the next step is to understand why. Some people find that once they know why they do what they do, they can break the habit. A bit like a smoker who realizes they continue to smoke because they are used to having something for their hands to do in social situations.
Are you putting off creating a trade plan because it seems like too big a task, or you don’t know where to start? Are you avoiding journaling because you find it boring, and you avoid stuff you don’t enjoy?
Are you not taking what is a perfectly good trade setup because you have a fear of losing? Your self-talk can impact your trading and stop you from doing what you should. Does it come from a place of inadequacy or guilt? Does it come from a lack of belief in your trading skills? If that’s the case, we suggest you attend one of our upcoming workshops.
3. Find A Procrastination Toppling Technique That Works For You
There are so many different techniques and systems out there for beating procrastination. Knowing yourself well will help you pick the one/s that are best suited to you.
If you get bored quickly or find it hard to concentrate for long periods, then the Pomodoro technique could work for you. The Pomodoro technique involves breaking down your time into short bursts of work with breaks in-between.
If writing your trade plan seems too big of a task, remember the old African proverb: The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
If you find journaling tedious, then you may enjoy Brian Tracy’s ‘eat that frog’ technique which involves doing those tasks you hate the most first. Or you may work better first thing in the morning. In which case, set aside the first hour of the day.
4. Set Goals
Once you’re ready to start work on overcoming your trading procrastination, it can help to put some goals in place. Perhaps a set date to have your trade plan completed by or how long you’ll spend working on it each day.
Another goal could be a target percentage of how many trades you will take that meet your rules. A percentage will stop you from just taking trades for the sake and instead help you focus on pulling the trigger on those trades that you know you should be taking.
5. Find An Accountability Partner
One of the best things you can do is tell someone your goals so that they can help you stay accountable. Sometimes just the act of telling someone else helps to bring about the change you need to overcome your procrastination.
6. Reward Yourself
While more people are motivated by pain rather than pleasure, it’s always nice to put in place a reward for achieving a goal. So think up what you’ll do as a reward once you’ve mastered the areas where your trading procrastination occurs.
7. Review Your Progress
Don’t forget to review your progress. Then, even if you are struggling to change your behavior, you can celebrate the small victories. Plus, it may be that a different procrastination technique is needed, or perhaps you find it difficult to review your trading weekly because your house is too noisy or the space isn’t conducive to reflection.
We hope that some of the above tips will work for you. Today is the day to put the excuses aside and start working on your trading procrastination.
