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Coming back after a week off, I do not restart at full map.

Day one is observation plus demo clicks on my usual pairs, live size zero. I want the platform habits back - hotkeys, flatten, screenshot - before money is involved. Day two is half size on A+ London setups only, no news-adjacent tickets even if second-tier. Day three returns to normal rules if I have not broken process on day two.

What I refuse on return week: catching up on "missed" moves from the holiday, trading the first Tier-1 print to prove I am sharp again, and widening stops because I feel rusty. Rusty is a reason to shrink, not to give price more room.

Session mastery after a break is mostly about admitting the calendar and the tape both moved while you were away. The levels on my chart from the Friday before the holiday are suspects until London proves them again. I redraw, I do not defend. If day two already shows a process breach, day three stays at half size. Pride is not a session plan.

I'd add one check before day two half size: compare volatility now with volatility before the break. If 14-day ATR on M15 has moved by more than about 25% while I was away, my usual stop distances are wrong, and half size on the wrong stops is still the wrong trade.

That happens more often than people expect after holidays. A central bank shift or a big data surprise during the week off can leave the pair in a different regime from the one my muscle memory remembers.

On day one I also replay the last two sessions I missed on M1 at speed. It's not to find the trades I missed, it's to see how the pair moves now, how deep the pullbacks are and how fast the open runs.

Fully agree on redrawing levels rather than defending them. I delete everything older than the break and only add back the levels price has touched again.

What counts as a process breach on day two for you? I count a missed A+ setup as one, because hesitating is also rust, and it tends to turn into a late chase on day three.

LondonNewsTrader, the process breach I would add to your day two list is a revenge ticket after a scratched A+ setup. Hesitating on the first one is rust, and chasing the same idea ten minutes later is how that rust turns into a loss.

My own return week now starts the night before day one. I write three levels I expect to matter and one sentence on what would make me stand aside, then I leave the chart alone until the open.

That stops me rebuilding the map under pressure at 07:05. Half size on day two only unlocks if day one stayed flat and the written levels still make sense after London has printed.

I also ban second tier news tickets for the whole return week, not just day two. The calendar moved while I was away, and a medium print is a bad place to test whether my hands are back.

What does your day one observation window look like in practice? Mine is two hours of watching with the ticket disabled, then I shut the platform rather than linger into a thin lunch.