Why Sitting Still With a Trade Feels So Hard
There's a well-known psychology study where people sat alone in a bare room for 15 minutes. No phone, nothing to read. Just their own thoughts.
Before it started, they'd tried a mild electric shock and said they'd pay to avoid feeling it again.
Then they were left alone with a button that gave them that same shock.
About two thirds of the men pressed it at least once, and a quarter of the women. One man pressed it 190 times in those 15 minutes.
Most said their minds wandered and they found it hard to settle. Even something unpleasant felt better than doing nothing.
What this has to do with trading
That's what hours at the charts can feel like.
You've done your analysis. The trade's on, or there's nothing worth taking. And now you just have to sit there.
So you look for a button to press.
You refresh the chart. You drop down a timeframe to see what's happening. You move your stop. You take a trade you never planned, just to feel like you're doing something.
The urge to check, tweak or take a trade you didn't plan is your mind looking for a button to press.
None of that is a character flaw. It's what most people do when they're left alone with their thoughts and nothing to do. The study shows that clearly.
I used to be terrible for this
For years I day traded. I'd be at the charts from 7am to 3pm for London, and some days I'd go again for New York until half six, or a bit later.
I'd refresh tabs, double check everything, drop down to lower timeframes, then go to bed with tired eyes and do it all again the next day.
I was burnt out, stressed and snapping at people. And the more time I spent staring, the more I broke my own rules.
I thought the answer was more discipline. More willpower. Trying harder to sit on my hands.
It wasn't.
Do less, not try harder
What actually helped was setting things up so there was less time to sit there in the first place.
That's a big part of why I trade the way I do now. Simple mechanical rules. A few conditions. Each one is a yes or no, so there's nothing to debate with myself.
I trade the daily chart. I look once, note what's setting up, then come back for about 10 to 15 minutes before the daily close to put trades on or manage them. Then I close the charts and get on with my day.
When there's less time in front of the screen, there are fewer buttons to press. Structure does the job willpower never could.
A few things you can try
You don't have to trade the way I do. But you can make your own setup easier to live with.
→ Set check-in times. Pick two or three times a day to look, and close the charts in between.
→ Go up a timeframe. Fewer candles means fewer decisions. It's why I trade the daily.
→ Use alerts. Let price tell you when it's there, instead of watching for it.
→ Phone in another room once you're in a trade.
→ Have somewhere to go. A walk, the gym, a chore, anything that gets you out of your head.
→ Make your rules yes or no. If a rule needs a debate, it gives your bored mind something to argue with.
The bit nobody tells you
Most traders think the hard part is finding the right setup.
For a lot of us, the hard part is what happens after. The waiting. The sitting still. Being left alone with your thoughts while the market does its thing.
So don't fight it with willpower. Design it out.
The less time you spend staring, the fewer buttons there are to press.
Quick answers
Why can't I stop checking my trades?
Because sitting still with nothing to do is hard for most people. In a well-known study, many people chose a mild electric shock over 15 minutes alone with their thoughts. Checking a trade is often just your mind looking for a button to press.
How do I stop checking my trades all day?
Set things up so there's less time to sit there. Pick two or three set times to look at the charts, use alerts instead of watching price, put your phone in another room once you're in a trade and have somewhere to go.
Does trading a higher timeframe help with boredom and overtrading?
It can. Fewer candles means fewer decisions, so there's less to react to. On the daily chart you can look once, place or manage trades in a short window and then close the charts.
Is willpower the answer to impatience in trading?
Not really. Willpower is hard to rely on when you're bored and staring at a screen. Structure works better: simple yes or no rules, set check-in times and less screen time mean there's less to resist in the first place.
Have a good week,
Alan Edward
Want more like this?
I send one short email a week on the mental side of trading and keeping it simple. No hype and no signals. Join the free newsletter here.
Two more ways I can help, whenever you're ready:
Watch the free video on how I trade in about 10 minutes a day with simple, rule-based swing trades on the daily chart.
Read The Blueprint To Trading Psychology, my short book on why you break your own rules and how to stop.
About Alan
Alan Edward (The Divergent Trader) is a full-time trader. It took him about five years to get consistent, and he now teaches a simple, low-screen-time way to trade, plus the mental side that goes with it.
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