Beginner’s Guide: Post 8
We’ve discussed the risks, the money, and the mindset needed for day trading. Now, let’s talk about another crucial resource: your time.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard new traders say, “I’ll just trade for an hour each morning and then hit the golf course!” If only it were that simple! Let me pull back the curtain on what a day trader’s schedule actually looks like – and spoiler alert: you won’t be spending most of your day on the links.
Phase 1: Learning & Education Time (The Foundation)
When I first started trading, I thought I’d read a couple books, watch some YouTube videos, and be ready to go. Three months later, I was still deep in the learning phase and hadn’t placed a single real trade. And thank goodness for that patience – it probably saved me thousands!
The education required isn’t just substantial – it’s ongoing. You’ll spend time:
- Reading books and articles (like this guide!)
- Studying charts until your eyes cross
- Learning the ins and outs of trading platforms
- Understanding market mechanics
- Developing strategies you’ll eventually test
One of my coaching clients, Jake, was a brilliant software engineer who assumed his technical background would give him a head start. Six months into his trading journey, he told me: “I haven’t been this humbled since my first coding job. There’s just so much to learn.”
Don’t fall for the “three easy steps to trading success” nonsense. Expect to spend weeks, months, potentially years of dedicated learning before consistent profitability becomes realistic. And even once you’re profitable? The learning never stops. I still block off Sundays for reading and research, and I’ve been at this for over a decade.
Phase 2: Daily Preparation Time (Pre-Market Routine)
Think about the last time you took a road trip. Did you just hop in the car and start driving, or did you check your route, the weather, and make sure you had gas first?
Your pre-market routine is that essential preparation before you start your trading day. For me, it’s sacred time. My phone’s on Do Not Disturb, coffee’s in hand, and I’m zeroed in on preparing for the day ahead.
This typically involves:
- Checking what happened overnight in other markets
- Reading relevant news that might impact my watchlist
- Identifying potential setups based on my strategy
- Mapping out key support and resistance levels
- Writing down my specific trading plan for the day
Some mornings this takes 30 minutes. Other days, when the market’s acting wonky or there’s major news, I might spend 90+ minutes preparing. Either way, this prep time is non-negotiable.
I’ve got a trader friend who skipped her prep routine one morning because she was running late. She jumped straight into trading, missed a critical headline about one of her watchlist stocks, and took a loss that wiped out her previous week’s gains. As she told me later, “That was the most expensive shortcut I’ve ever taken.”
Phase 3: Active Trading Time (During Market Hours)
Here’s where people’s expectations get really skewed. The movies show traders frantically buying and selling all day long. The reality? A lot of waiting for the right setups.
How much active trading time you need depends entirely on your strategy:
If you’re like my friend Carlos who trades the opening range breakout, you might only actively trade from 9:30-11:00 AM EST. He’s usually done for the day before most people take their lunch break.
On the flip side, Maria, who trades reversals near the market close, might not even turn on her platform until 2:30 PM.
And yes, some traders are active throughout the entire session. When I was first learning, I watched the market all day because I was still building pattern recognition skills. Now I primarily focus on the first two hours and the last hour of the trading day.
The key isn’t necessarily trading all day – it’s having complete focus during your trading window. I learned this lesson the hard way when I once tried to trade while sitting in on a conference call with my camera off. Let’s just say multitasking cost me a lot more than just missing what was said in the meeting.
Phase 4: Review & Journaling Time (Post-Market Analysis)
If you skip this phase, you might as well throw darts at stock symbols. I’m dead serious.
After the closing bell, taking time to review what happened is what separates perpetual amateurs from growing professionals. This includes:
- Going through each trade you took (winners AND losers)
- Checking if you followed your plan (I still sometimes catch myself breaking my own rules)
- Recording everything in your trading journal
- Looking for patterns in your performance
I spend about 30-45 minutes on this most days. On Fridays, I do a more comprehensive weekly review that takes about 90 minutes.
One trader in my community, Deb, credits her review process with turning her trading around. “For six months, I was basically just gambling. Once I started reviewing every trade and keeping detailed notes, I started seeing the patterns in my mistakes. My win rate went from about 40% to over 60% in just two months.”
Putting It All Together (Example Schedule)
Here’s how these phases might look in a real trader’s day (and pretty close to my own schedule):
- 6:30 AM: Wake up, coffee, quick scan of overnight news
- 7:15-8:45 AM: Pre-market prep (watchlist building, chart analysis)
- 9:30-11:30 AM: Active trading (market open session)
- 11:30-4:00 PM: Break from active trading (though I keep alerts on for specific setups)
- 4:00-4:45 PM: Post-market review and journaling
That’s about 4.5 dedicated hours daily, not counting ongoing education time. And I’m considered a “part-time” trader by many standards since I’m not glued to the screen all day!
Part-Time vs. Full-Time Considerations
Can you day trade while holding down a regular job? Yes, with careful planning. I did it for my first two years, trading only the market open before heading to my office job.
But here’s the catch – “part-time trading” doesn’t mean cutting corners on learning, preparation, or review. You still need to do all those things, just with a more focused trading window.
I know a nurse who trades only during her days off, and a teacher who trades during summer breaks. Both are successful because they’re realistic about the time they can commit and don’t try to squeeze trading between other responsibilities.
If you’re working a 9-5, you might find pre-market preparation difficult. One solution I’ve seen work is doing most of your prep the night before, then just updating your plan with any overnight developments in the morning.
Conclusion
Day trading isn’t something you can succeed at by casually “fitting it in” between checking emails or during your lunch break. It requires dedicated focus across all four phases: learning, preparation, execution, and review.
When new traders tell me they don’t have time for all this, I usually respond with a simple question: “Would you expect to become a part-time doctor, lawyer, or pilot without putting in the necessary time?” Trading is no different.
Be honest with yourself about whether you can realistically commit the hours. It doesn’t have to be all day, every day – but it does need to be focused, consistent time.
Next Steps
If you’ve thought hard about the risks, capital requirements, mindset needs, and now the time commitment, and you’re still excited to move forward – great! Let’s get practical about setting up your trading operation.
Next up: Choosing Your First Day Trading Broker: A Beginner’s Checklist
