The Difficulties of Trading from Home
I know the dream for a lot of people interested in trading is to be good enough to jack the 9-to-5 job and trade from home. The benefits are obvious:
- wake up when you want
- no annoying boss on your back
- no commute (it’s at least an hour for most people I know)
- unlimited profits
I’m sure they are loads more benefits but there are also some very real drawbacks or difficulties when trading from home such as:
- boredom
- loneliness
- home distractions
- discipline
I’ll go through each one in turn:
Boredom
Trading from home usually means you on your own sat in front of your computer waiting for the trade setups to happen. It also depends on what sort of trader you are.. if you’re scalper, you’ll be entering and exiting the markets often. Scalping is tough and most people will perhaps trade a couple of times a day and you can be waiting for hours for your trade to arrive… during this time, what do you do? I guess you could send a few emails, watch some TV, play some games etc but you can’t do this every day. The worse thing that could happen is if you boredom trade… you put on trades as you’re bored, this is also known as gambling and you’ll soon watch your account disappear to nothing.
I personally have experienced boredom trading from home… I am sat in front of the computer waiting for something to happen. I get around this by choosing to trade during set time.. eg I trade the morning session in the UK markets between 7am – 10am and depending on how I’m feeling when the US markets open. In between these times, I’m out doing something else with my life! I don’t sit in front of the computer.. best to go out somewhere, go for a run… just get out!
Loneliness
Trading at home in your study is also tough as you’re frequently alone with no one around you. If you have children and/or partner whose at home then perhaps you won’t get lonely but it’ll interfere with your trading. If you’re taking it seriously, you’ll be trading in your study and your family will leave you to do your job… you’ll be working on your own, not in an office with other people. Us humans are social and like to be around people.. loneliness can be a real problem.
Once again, I get round this because I’m not lonely for long when I’m trading due to the set time that I trade. I’m out between my trading times meeting friends for lunch or socialising. However, if you’re spending all day at home trading in your own office… perhaps call people now and again, do a video chat or something! You can go insane being lonely!!
Home Distractions
This is a biggie for me… if you’ve family at home you’re bound to get distracted. A partner can stick their head in the room for a ‘quick’ chat which lasts for hours and then you find you’ve missed your trading opportunities. Children require attention and there’s no way out on this one. TV, Internet, postman, phone and all the home things can distract you from your trading ambitions.
I suggest keeping your trading area clear and simple. Perhaps a computer and a desk with ample light. No TV and perhaps a lock to keep out unwelcome visitors!
Discipline
Day in day out following your trading rules in the same home environment. Waking up say 6am every day and then going for a run after your morning trading session and sticking to your rules both within trading and life requires extreme discipline especially when you don’t have a manager watching over you! We’re instantly more discipline when we have a 9-to-5 job as you can’t be late, you got to get to meetings at a certain time and you’ve got performance targets to reach. However, when the boss is yourself, it’s not easy. If you’ve never managed yourself in this way you’re going to be in for a shock! It sounds relatively simple to manage oneself and to keep disciplined but it’s not! Us humans have a tendency to be lazy…. you’ll find an excuse to not wake up at 6am or don’t go for your exercise. The things is, if you’ve got a 9-to-5 job and you constantly fail at things, you soon won’t have a job to go to. However, when you are your own boss, there is no punishment… well, not in the short term but without discipline, you will ultimately fail as a trader.
So, if you’re seriously thinking of taking the plunge and looking at trading from home.. do think carefully. It’s not going to be as easy as you think. It will require a change in your own behaviour and discipline. Something which I’ve contemplated is a shared office of some sort where you’re still ‘going to work’.. except that it’s your own rented office space! You can get something small, a little room or deskspace!
