60 Second Trading Schedule

A Day in the Life of a 60 Second Trader

If you’re excited about 60 Second binary options, you may be wondering what it’s actually like to be a 60 Second binary options trader, and what your schedule might be like.  How will you fit trading into the rest of your life?  One good thing about 60 Second trading is that it may actually be easier to schedule with the rest of your obligations than other types of binary options trading, which require you to monitor the market on an ongoing basis.  Here is an idea of what a day might be like for a successful binary options trader who specializes in short term options like these and also balances trading with a full time job (as so many binary traders will have to).

Our Trader

John is a binary options trader who trades 60 Second stock options and uses a price action-based trading system to place his trade entries.  He monitors his trades while he is in them and doesn’t use auto-trading.  He also doesn’t make use of trading signals at this point in his trading career, but instead monitors the market himself to spot good trade setups.  John works a full-time job as a desk clerk at a hotel downtown, and does not have a job where he can trade actively while at work, since he spends all his time at a front desk dealing with customers face-to-face.  He cannot even trade on his mobile device during work for this reason.  John doesn’t have a huge bank balance, but has $500 invested in his binary options trading account.  He only invests 2.5% of his account on each of his trades according to his money management plans.

Here is what John’s daily schedule might look like:

7:00 am:  Wake up for work.  John isn’t concerning himself with the binary options market when he wakes up.  Instead, he eats a healthy breakfast and gets on the bus to head to work.  At this point, he is probably focused on his job.  But he may bring reading material with him on the bus, perhaps a book about binary options trading, price action, or some other aspect of the market.

8:00 am-5:00 pm:  John is at work and has no time for trading.  He cannot actively monitor open trades, which would make it quite challenging to try and do longer-term trades which would be open for an hour or more.  This is one of the reasons John has decided only to trade very short-term binary options.  He is monitored by his own supervisor during work and could not get away with attempting to trade on the hotel premises.  Furthermore, John would probably burn out if he tried to do both of these things at once.

5:00 pm:  John takes the bus home.  He might do some reading about binary options on the bus.

5:30 pm:  John arrives home and makes dinner, showers, and takes care of every day chores.

7:30 pm-8:30 pm:  This is the hour of the day that John has set aside for trading each day of the week.  During this hour, John actively watches the binary options charts for stocks he is interested in.  He searches for possible trade setups according to the rules of his 60 Second binary options trading system which is based on price action (just an example; there are numerous different ways you can trade binary options, but it is important to have a trading method in place—learn more about them here).  If John spots a great setup, he immediately enters the trade.

If John sees the trade going against him, he closes his position out early (a fast decision to have to make in 60 seconds, but John is quick on his feet and has a clear, level head when he trades).  That way he can minimize his losses.  John doesn’t rely on auto-trading to manage his trades for him and stays very involved with his trades.  During an hour he may make several trades on average.  Some days, he may not trade at all.  Other days he may find half a dozen strong setups and take them all.  John never takes more than one trade at a time, as per his personal management rules (other traders might; this is a matter of personal preference and what you can handle).  He never takes trade setups that are less than superlative.  He only takes the best opportunities. Click here to develop trading discipline

8:30 pm-10:30 pm:  John uses this time for leisure.  Whether that means watching television, reading a book, working on a creative project, hanging out with friends (or family), or something else altogether does not particularly matter.  This is a time to be thinking about something other than work or trading.  Why is this important?  Without time off, a trader cannot lead a balanced life.  If you spend all your time working (and trading is a type of work), you will burn out of the market, and possibly more than that.  It’s very important to be a balanced person.

10:30 pm-7:00 am:  John gets a full 8 hours of sleep or more every night.  He does not sacrifice his health for the sake of his trading career or his full-time job.

Weekends:  

You may have noticed John only researches binary options trading during the week while he is riding the bus to work or on his lunch break.  The weekends are a great time for him to set aside a few extra hours to do research on trading systems, conduct testing, and so on.  These are critical aspects of binary options trading, even after you start trading with real money.  You have to continue to learn and refine.  This is also the time of the week that John might look back over his trading journal and past trades to analyze and improve his performance.  He also takes time off to enjoy himself, rest, and relax during the weekend.

While Learning:

This sample schedule for a 60 Second binary options trader shows you what the schedule of a live trader who is trading with real money might be like.  Before you are trading live, you could follow a similar schedule for learning and testing.  Since you will not be spending an hour a day on weekdays actually trading, you could spend that hour a day testing trades instead, whether backtesting or demo testing. Snag a demo account

A lot of would-be traders say, “But testing will take me forever.”  That is not really true, though.  When you are backtesting, your trades generally take seconds or minutes.  Think how many trades you can backtest in an hour.  Demo testing takes place at the same pace as real-life trading in real-time.  Assuming you make steady progress, you could be ready to trade live after just a couple of months of testing and research.  In reality, most traders face pitfalls and take a bit longer than this to go live, but you will be developing valuable skills and traits like self discipline as you learn, and that is a very good thing.

You will also be taking some time to personalize your schedule.  While John’s schedule is ideal for him, there are many different ways to lead a balanced life as a full-time worker and a serious trader.  And if you work part time, you have even more freedom and flexibility with your trading.  The main elements of a schedule are generally the same though.

Make time for the following:

• Ongoing research and testing
• A couple of hours of trading each day (assuming you do indeed trade fast options)
• Leisure time and time spent with loved ones
• Healthy meals and eight hours of sleep each night
• Your day job

You can learn to balance a full-time job, family responsibilities, and other aspects of your life with trading.  It takes time and patience, but it can be done.  If you let any one of those elements fall out of your schedule, you are likely to start having problems and losing trades.  Balance your obligations and you will reduce stress, stay healthy and focused, and likely enjoy a successful career as a binary options trader.  Eventually you may even be able to quit that day job, but wait until you are successful with trading and making plenty of money!

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