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Matching my sessions to my energy, why I dropped the NY overlap for a while

I used to trade London and NY back to back because that's when the volatility is. After a few months I noticed that my results in the later part of the day were consistently worse, and it wasn't the market. It was me. After a long London morning I'm tired, and I make more mistakes in the afternoon.

So I experimented with only trading the London session and stopping around midday. My trade count went down, but the quality went up and my days felt less stressful. I still watch the NY open sometimes but I'm not required to trade it.

The point is that the best session to trade isn't just about the market, it's about when you're at your best. For some people that's early morning, for others it might be the evening. If you have a job or other commitments, pick the window that fits your life and your attention, and get good at that one.

I'd rather trade two good hours than six mediocre ones. If you're not sure, track your results by hour of the day for a month and let the data decide.

For anyone wanting to try the track results by hour idea, I added a column to my journal with the hour of entry and then made a simple pivot of average result per hour after about a month. It was obvious which hours were good for me and which were not. My worst hour was right after lunch, which I would never have guessed. Having the numbers made it easier to stop, because it was not just a feeling that I was tired.

Something I would add is that energy is not just about the time of day. On days when I slept badly or had a stressful morning, even my usual good session was worse. So I now do a quick check before I start, and if I am not feeling sharp I either trade smaller or just watch. It sounds soft, but the trades I take when I am tired are the ones I regret most in review. A short walk before the session helps me more than another coffee.