Scalping around a day job: does it work?

[Shadow Trader]

A 9-to-5 and a scalping habit sound like they shouldn't mix. They can, but the schedule has to be built honestly.

The big sessions run from London open through the New York overlap. Depending on time zone, that might land during work hours, in the evening, or before sunrise. Someone in Europe may get a good evening session, while someone in Asia may have to choose between the early Asian window and the late-night London open.

What tends to work: a short, defined window, perhaps 60 to 90 minutes, with a hard stop on trading. What tends to fail: sneaking trades in at the desk, staring at charts during meetings, and managing positions from a phone with a boss nearby.

The tradeoff is that a smaller window means fewer trades, but fewer rushed trades too.

Some practical structure that tends to help:

1. Pick one session and stick with it, no wandering
2. Prepare the night before: calendar, levels, risk limit
3. Set a hard end time with an alarm
4. Close everything before returning to the day job
5. Review in the evening, not mid-meeting

The setups that fit a short window are usually the cleaner, higher-conviction ones. A smaller window forces selectivity, which isn't a bad thing.

Anyone balancing a job and scalping, what does the schedule look like, and which session proved the most workable?