【Trading Wisdom】Success Lies in Not Obsessing Over Screen Watching

In the trading market, excessive screen watching is often one of the key reasons for losses. Once traders spend all day in front of the screen, their eyes fixed on the constantly flickering candlesticks, they easily get carried away by the market trends. As a result, they deviate from their original trading strategies, and losses follow.

Whether it’s a novice just entering the market or an experienced "veteran," they may suffer losses due to excessive screen watching. Novices are sensitive to market fluctuations; their moods rise and fall with the candlesticks, making it easy to make impulsive decisions and end up losing money without clear reason. Even veterans with mature trading systems and rich practical experience often incur significant losses at certain stages because they keep staring at the screen. In the end, it all comes down to paying too much attention to real-time market movements.

Why do traders like watching the screen?
There are three main psychological reasons: First, they want to figure out the patterns of market fluctuations to seize more trading opportunities. Second, when holding positions, they worry about missing profit opportunities or seeing the market turn against them, so they keep watching. Third, it’s pure curiosity—wanting to know the current market situation or find trading opportunities when holding no positions.

Whatever the reason, it essentially indicates that traders lack confidence in the market or have an insufficient understanding of price fluctuations and the nature of trading. Thus, they hope to act promptly at critical moments by watching the screen.

Why is it hard for traders to quit the habit of excessive screen watching?
When opening a trading platform, the flickering candlesticks seem to have a magical pull on traders. On the surface, it’s the price moving; in reality, it’s the shifting minds of market participants and the battle between bulls and bears.

The rise and fall of prices essentially reflect changes in the balance of power and shifts in opinions between those who are bullish and bearish. Amidst various noises, traders easily lose their way and forget their initial analysis and judgments about the market.

Don’t overestimate your self-control. Once you start watching the screen, even with the best mindset, it’s hard to resist human impulses. We are emotional beings, and it’s difficult to stay rational at all times. Emotional impulses emerge from time to time; suppressing them temporarily doesn’t mean they disappear completely. Staring at the screen for a long time leads to unconscious wrong small operations—what seems accidental is actually the inevitable result of reason being influenced by emotions. In other words, screen watching tends to make traders unobjective and impulsive, ultimately causing unnecessary losses.

How to effectively avoid excessive screen watching?
First, clarify the position of trading in life. Trading is only part of life, not the whole. You just need to find appropriate times in your daily life to handle trading-related matters. Ironically, the less you fixate on trading, the more likely you are to make steady profits in the market.

Second, develop a deeper understanding of market fluctuations. Only by truly grasping how the market operates can you take the initiative in trading. When price changes no longer make your heart race, you’ll naturally handle fluctuations calmly.

Finally, establish and strictly abide by a sound trading system and methodology. All operations must follow the trading plan, and impulsive trades outside the plan should be firmly avoided. While executing the plan, it’s inevitable to monitor the market, but you must consciously control the frequency and duration of screen watching.

Screen watching doesn’t solve the fundamental problems in trading, nor can it make the market move as you wish. Therefore, "watching the screen less" is a hurdle that every serious trader must overcome. Even when you do watch, focus on the underlying logic and structure of the market, not just the flickering candlesticks or changes in account numbers.