In today’s technology driven world, time is even more valuable to us. Trading Forex with a busy schedule can seem like a difficult thing to achieve. How I find the time to trade is a question I get asked a lot and over the years I have uncovered some useful tips.
The majority of traders prefer that Forex is not a full-time job – sitting at your computer for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week.
I know I certainly don’t!
With Forex trading, you have the potential to cut down your time commitment without affecting your financial gain.
That’s why my style of trading is built around the concept of making consistent profits whilst investing as little time as possible.
There are three tactics I use to minimise my trading down. Check them out below…
Tactic 1: Trade low Maintenance time frames
It would be much easier to manage your time if you only had to check your charts two or three times a day, right?
With 8 hour charts you will see 3 new candles each day. That means you only need to check on this chart three times a day in order to see the full day’s events.
Daily charts require even less time. These higher time frames experience price movements over a longer period of time. This means you don’t need to be glued to your computer the entire time.
Compare these to a five minute chart and you have a totally different picture. You must constantly scan for setups and be up to date with price movements over the last few hours (at least).
Another benefit of large time frames is that you often don’t need to act quickly. You can see potential setups form hours before they trigger. You can check your chart at 8:00 am, spot a setup, come back three hours later and take the trade!
Low maintenance time frames are a key tactic in trading around a busy schedule.
I recommend the 8, 12 and daily charts. If you can’t get the 8 hour chart, try out TradingView.
Tactic 2: Simplify Your Trading
Most new traders come into the scene using complex indicators and strategies that rely heavily on the use of indicators. Why create more confusion and headache with your trading when there are other, simpler options that work better?
So, simplify your trading by using Price Action!
Price action means you can trade on a clean chart, indicator free, and assess price to enter successful trade.
I could go on for days about the benefits of Price Action – my 15 year trading career has seen countless successes using Price Action.
You would probably rather just find out how to trade using Price Action, right?
I got you covered – I have a 2018 edition of my strategy which you can read the entirety of right here.
Tactic 3: Trade Multiple Pairs
This may seem counterintuitive – how do you simplify your trading by trading a lot of pairs? I usually recommend traders to focus on around 5 pairs. However, there is a downside to low maintenance time-frames.
They don’t provide you with a lot of trade opportunities. So, if you have a busy schedule, you need to trade more pairs.
If you are trading 8 hour charts you should, at minimum, have 5 pairs that you follow. If you are trading the daily chart, you should be looking at 10 pairs minimum.
This may sound like a lot, but stick with me!
Remember that you are trading Price Action on low maintenance time frames. Your charts are going to be clean and easy to read. You will only have to look at your chart for 10-20 seconds to look for setups.
Even with 20 pairs, it would take you less than 5 minutes to check them all. Price Action trading give you the flexibility and quick analysis without lowering the quality of your analysis.
These are the main pairs that I focus on currently:
- EUR/USD
- GBP/USD
- USD/CAD
- USD/CHF
- USD/JPY
- GBP/JPY
- EUR/JPY
- EUR/GBP
So now that you have my three tactics…
I have a few things for you to do:
- Reread the three tactics above and start planning how you are going to integrate them into your trading ritual. Especially if what you are doing now is not working.
- Switch to low maintenance time frames, check out my videos on Youtube and start increasing the amount of pairs you trade!
- If you know of anyone who is struggling with their trading, send them this post. Finding the right advice for your specific strategy can be difficult to find!
Trading Forex with a busy schedule is absolutely achievable. I have seen too many talented traders fall away from trading because of their time worries. It is possible to include Forex trading in your schedule – you just need to focus on the areas that increase your time efficiency!