You might have heard that pilots seem to make pretty good traders. Whether that can be proved is doubtful, but why is it a possibility? The simple answer might be that they have to follow a routine as pilots, and traders should do the same.

Think about it for a second. Things that are routine for you are generally easy. Trading, as most know and have experienced, is not easy especially at first. So, doesn’t it make sense to develop a routine and make it as easy as possible to succeed?

If you trade “normal” market hours with the market opening sometime in the morning, plan a pre-market routine. How are you going to look for new opportunities and how are you going to address any current positions? These are just a couple of issues to consider, but it should be simple and straightforward.

How will you handle when the market is open? Are you working or does the market have your full attention? Clearly this will have a big effect on your routine. When do you like to exit or enter trades? Again, this list of points to consider can be as long or as short as you want.

And lastly, what about when the market is closed for the day? Will you review trades every day or as needed? Will you do postmortem work on the weekends?

Just like creating and writing a trading plan, there are several things to consider, and changes and deletions will be made along the way. The goal is to automate your routine as much as possible to give you the best chance of success.

John Kmiecik, Market Taker Mentoring