Psychology during a red week: what do you do?
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2026 9:47 pm
I'm in one now, so this isn't theoretical. Monday to Thursday this week: down about 1.8%, which for me is a bad week. Nothing dramatic happened. Just a run of small losers and a couple of trades where I didn't follow my rules.
What I'm doing, in no particular order.
I've cut size by half for the rest of the week. Not as punishment, but because I clearly don't have a good read on the market right now and smaller size gives me room to be wrong.
I've reread my journal entries for each losing trade. Out of eleven losers, seven were valid setups that just didn't work. Four were trades I shouldn't have taken. Those four are about two thirds of the week's loss.
I've stopped looking at the weekly P&L figure. I check it on Friday evening and that's it.
I've gone back to my most basic setup only. EURUSD London open break. Nothing else until next week.
What I'm trying not to do is change the system. In my experience, the urge to change everything after a bad week is usually wrong. Four days is not a sample.
Would be good to hear how the rest of you deal with it. Do you reduce size, take time off, or push through normally?
What I'm doing, in no particular order.
I've cut size by half for the rest of the week. Not as punishment, but because I clearly don't have a good read on the market right now and smaller size gives me room to be wrong.
I've reread my journal entries for each losing trade. Out of eleven losers, seven were valid setups that just didn't work. Four were trades I shouldn't have taken. Those four are about two thirds of the week's loss.
I've stopped looking at the weekly P&L figure. I check it on Friday evening and that's it.
I've gone back to my most basic setup only. EURUSD London open break. Nothing else until next week.
What I'm trying not to do is change the system. In my experience, the urge to change everything after a bad week is usually wrong. Four days is not a sample.
Would be good to hear how the rest of you deal with it. Do you reduce size, take time off, or push through normally?