How to trade if you are working full time
Trading Forex while working full-time can be quite a task. Even though most people believe that it is impossible to become a profitable trader while still working a 9-5 job and finding time to spend with family and pursue hobbies is a lofty goal, there are steps you can take to improve your trading while still benefitting from your full-time career.
In this article, we will consider the best approach which fully employed traders can take in order to make the most out of their trading time.
Top 10 tips on how to trade Forex while working full-time
1. Set up your chart beforehand
If you set up your charts over the weekend, you will save time throughout the trading week by not having to spend time charting and analysing your trades. All that is required of you is to wait for the price to move in the direction of your entry before proceeding.
Also, if you simply want to trade half time, you may fit in all of your analysis around your current job schedules. If you work during the day, you do all of your analysis at night. If you work evenings, you should do the reverse.
You can also conduct your market analysis before or after work, depending on what is most convenient for you. Developing prospective trading tactics outside of market hours is still another alternative to consider.
2. Focus on time management
Trading while working a full-time job will require some careful time management. You’ll have to balance a lot of commitments while also making time for day trading.
Getting up earlier in the morning, doing research on potential plays very early in the morning or very late in the evening, and developing potential trading strategies on Sundays are just a few examples of how you can make use of your free time to maximize the minutes you have available to trade during market hours.
3. Trade during periods of high liquidity
Trading during periods of high liquidity will typically be during the London and New York sessions. Because the majority of multinational banks have branches in the city, market liquidity is at its maximum during the London session.
During these periods, spreads are lowered, and you have the opportunity to profit from large-volume market swings.
Trading at times when your currency pair is most active is yet another approach to consider using. The majority of lucrative market activity occurs during these hours or around and a few hours after the opening of the US stock market.
4. Implement an organisational schedule
Because time will be at a premium when you combine trading with a full-time job, it is critical that you become extremely organized before starting.
Being well-organized at work and at home will help you to decrease mental clutter and maximize spare time, allowing you to devote more time to trading.
For example, if you have a family, you might want to consider scheduling blocks of time during which you can concentrate solely on your trading activities. It is possible that your partner will be in charge of cooking, taking care of the children, and other household duties at these times.
You can also schedule errands and important jobs, like paying bills, at specific times of the day so that your focus is not diverted from your primary activity. Every little thing you can do to manage your life will provide you with more time and space for trading, and there is significant value in that.
5. Consider automated trading
Part-time traders have the option of trading on their own or using an automated trading tool to execute deals for them on their behalf.
Market participants can choose from a choice of automated trading programs that perform a wide range of duties.
The ability to monitor currency values in real-time, place market orders (impose limit orders, market-if-touched orders, or stop orders), recognize profitable spreads and automatically order the transaction are all capabilities that some of them may possess.
Important to keep in mind is that even if a trade is ordered, there is no guarantee that the order will be honoured on the trading floor at the price anticipated, which is especially true in a fast-moving and unpredictable market.
A “set and forget” program, which lets the software to make automated judgments, may be the greatest option for a new part-time forex trader who is just getting started.
Several automated trading programs provide a basic “plug and play” feature, making them a convenient option for part-time traders to get their feet wet in the trading world.
One of the most significant advantages of automated trading is that it allows traders to make deals in a disciplined and unemotional manner.
Part-time traders with a lot of experience may prefer a more hands-on approach to trading by using automated trading software that has more programmable options.
6. Have a disciplined approach to your trade execution
Traders who choose to make their own decisions rather than relying on automated systems must maintain their composure and dispassion in order to be successful.
Part-time traders are urged to capture profits as soon as they are realized rather than waiting for larger spreads and higher profits to emerge.
This necessitates a certain amount of self-control in fast-moving markets where favourable spreads can widen. Market trends can flip around in an instant owing to unforeseeable external factors, therefore successful traders take profits when they can when the opportunity arises.
However, as previously stated, there is no guarantee that a stop order will be filled at the predicted price. Trailing stop orders and stop market orders can be used to protect against sudden market reversals and to reduce risk.
Part-time traders with little or no experience are advised to start with tiny sums of currency when first starting out in the market.
7. Be realistic in your expectations
Trading may be a very emotional endeavour, and this is understandable. As a part-time forex trader, you must exercise caution in order to avoid moving too quickly and too soon. Maintain a realistic perspective on how much you can accomplish in the limited amount of time you have available.
If you establish unreasonable goals for yourself and then fail to achieve them, you may experience an emotional reaction that leads to foolish trades and significant losses.
The most effective methods of ensuring success are to build up steadily and observe market trends over an extended period of time.
If you set modest, attainable goals, you can devise a strategy for achieving each one, evaluate your progress, and move on to the next small goal.
8. Take advantage of online trading communities
The most effective strategy to become a successful part-time forex trader is to learn from others who have gone before you in their endeavours.
Numerous individuals have tried and tested every feasible strategy, tool, and method and are willing to share their discoveries with the world via the internet.
Any facet of forex trading may be found, discussed, and learned about through the use of online discussion boards. If you have a specific question, you can initiate dialogues with other people by asking for direct guidance.
9. Go long
Even if you are only a part-time forex trader, you will need to be familiar with a number of different trading tactics. Scalping, as previously indicated, is simply one of these methods. As an independent trader, you have complete control over how long you intend to hold the deal.
Take a longer position to hold the trade for days rather than minutes, as an alternative to holding a shorter position. Swing trading is a type of trading in which you study medium-term price swings in order to decide the optimal time to enter a transaction.
As a result, it is ideal for part-time forex traders, as it involves only a small amount of time each day to keep an eye on what is happening in the markets.
This technique necessitates patience because, in the short term, interest rates will fluctuate, and you will need to maintain your composure until they begin to rise again.
The size of your stop losses will also need to be larger to accommodate a larger swing than you would tolerate in a short-term transaction.
10. Use a trading journal
A trading diary is a written record of all of your deals and trading activity that you keep track of. You complete it on a daily basis, and you use it to plan, reflect, and adjust your trading strategy as necessary.
This may appear to be very simplistic, but in order to succeed as a forex trader, you must be methodical and thorough and keep constant track of your past decisions in order to inform your future trading decisions
You can keep track of your profits and losses, as well as analyse what happened and why. If you incorporate these principles into your trading, you will have a solid foundation for success as a part-time forex trader in the future.
