Using a stopwatch on my phone to time setups
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2026 8:19 am
This sounds silly, but it changed how I take trades. For two weeks I started a stopwatch when a setup appeared on my chart and stopped it when I clicked.
Average: 14 seconds. But the spread was large: from 3 to over 60 seconds.
The fast clicks were mostly impulse trades. The slow ones were hesitation, often after a loss. The best trades took about 8 to 20 seconds, enough to check the checklist, not long enough to doubt.
Now I use a short checklist that I read in that window. If I can't decide in 30 seconds, I skip.
Has anyone else measured their own decision time?
Average: 14 seconds. But the spread was large: from 3 to over 60 seconds.
The fast clicks were mostly impulse trades. The slow ones were hesitation, often after a loss. The best trades took about 8 to 20 seconds, enough to check the checklist, not long enough to doubt.
Now I use a short checklist that I read in that window. If I can't decide in 30 seconds, I skip.
Has anyone else measured their own decision time?