by Ray Burke on July 31, 2012

When you become a day trader the DONT overlook setting up your office; your day trading office should be part of your day trading strategy.  So there you are, youve funded your account, back tested the daylights out of your futures trading strategy, and youre set up with your lap top in the living room ready to go.  I dont know about you, but I am easily distracted, the previously mentioned set up would just NOT work for me because at my house, particularly during first hour trading, there are too many distractions.  There is nothing worse for me than distractions and being uncomfortable when I am trying to focus on my day trading strategy.

When I first started to become a day trader, I knew that being distracted was a huge limitation.  I am writing this post because I was just on the phone with a friend of mine in California that trades from home and does this while she watches her not one..but TWO twin boys.  I have ONE four year old and as kids can beshe is demanding.  The whole time I was on the phone with my friend I could here the kids in the background doing what kids that age do: make noise, fight with each other, and just do kid stuff.  This womans day trading strategy is FAR more complicated than mine and she bases her decisions on FOUR separate time frames.  How in the heck she can even think is beyond me.  She has been day trading for about a year and she is still trying to become a day trader. I wonder why?

So how should you set day trading office up?  First, if you are day trading from home try to locate your office in the quietest place in the house where you will have the most privacy and least amount of distractions.  This sounds mean, but I told my wife (when I was trading at home) that I could only be disturbed under special circumstances such as emergencies.  How in the world can you focus on any day trading strategy when you are distracted, I cant do it so I dont even try.  As a matter of fact, if a disturbance is too distracting, I may even take the day off.  For example, my daughter took a big spill on the steps; that ended my trading day.and that was OK!

OK, so we have addressed setting up in a good environment.  Now, lets focus on comfort.  Lets face it, when we are day trading we spend A LOT of time in front of our computer.  We NEED to be as comfortable as possible and I will go one step further by saying that because I have a nice office that looks professional I feel more like a winner.  I am a bit of a freak when it comes to things looking the way and working the way they should.  Office furniture is a huge thing for me.  The biggest reason is aesthetics, it it looks like a million bucks, I feel like a million bucks.  The other thing is that commercial grade office furniture is more ergonomic than what you can find at a local box store.  I started out with a cheap box store chair and suffered several trading related injuries :).   Dont go cheap on your chair, whatever you saved you can multiply by twenty and thats what you will spend at the local chiropractor.  Day Trading is hard work, why not have a nice office where you can be comfortable and feel like a winner even if you are just learning?  Check out my old home office on the top and my new office on the bottom, click photos to enlarge.  A comfortable office has always helped me.

When becoming a day trader you may be on a limited budget, but theres no reason to break the bank on professional office furniture!  In most major cities or towns all you have to do is Google used office furniture and youll probably be amazed at the cool stuff you can buy at big discounts.  I consider my day trading office and my environment a critical part of my day trading strategy, it truly helps me feel like a professional even on a tough day.  When you become a day trader you need to fell like a winner, the best office equipment you can afford may help you do just that; works for me.