London open without prep is just expensive entertainment. My pre-London routine is short on purpose so I actually do it on sleepy mornings instead of skipping it when it matters most.
Fifteen minutes before cash open:
- Levels: prior day high/low, overnight range edges, one magnet I care about — not twenty lines of folklore.
- News: any Tier-1 inside the next four hours? If yes, max risk is already reduced and blackout times are written.
- Max risk: cash number for the session, spoken once out loud so it is harder to “forget.”
What does your pre-London prep include that you refuse to skip even when you are late?
On mornings when I am late, the rule is still the same: unfinished prep means delayed first click, not a compressed prep that skips the max-risk line. Skipping the cash number is how size creep starts before London even opens.