Decision fatigue at the one hundredth chart check

[Shadow Trader]

Every decision draws on a limited supply of attention. A scalper making hundreds of micro-decisions through a session drains it, and the quality of choices declines.

Signs of fatigue:

1. Skipping parts of the checklist.

2. Taking trades that look vaguely similar to setups.

3. Hesitating on entries that would have been automatic at the start of the day.

4. Irritability about small price movements.

The journal usually confirms the pattern. Results in the first two hours tend to beat results in the fourth and fifth hours.

Protection comes from structure. Shorter sessions, scheduled breaks, a fixed trade limit, and automating whatever can be automated, such as stop placement and position sizing, reduce the number of decisions made.

Fewer decisions of higher quality beat many tired ones.

Pre-made decisions help most. Fixed lot sizes by pair, preset stop distances, and a short list of allowed setups turn many choices into lookups, saving attention for the judgement calls that actually need it.

How long can the session run before the results start to slip?