The following guest post is courtesy of New Zealand based Forex broker Titan FX.
Accomplishing daily tasks is vital to long term success in forex trading. To be highly productive, forex traders must plan and execute effective prioritization of daily tasks. It promotes productivity and practices efficiency to reach trading goals. With plenty of charts or news to tackle in a day, it is beneficial to prioritize daily tasks and create an effective trading schedule.
What is effective prioritization?
Daily tasks can be accomplished through proper prioritization. Setting priorities is a strategy used by team leaders to help assign tasks around a project goal. Without setting priorities, it will be impossible to get the any high value tasks done. In a forex trader’s busy routine, prioritizing tasks can be a valuable skill with a beneficial long term impact. The effects of successful prioritization can be seen in positive results as well as an optimized thought process. When scheduling daily tasks, you should notice a more proactive and positive way of thinking.
How prioritizing improves productivity
All tasks are important especially when working as a forex trader. With a changeable market, it is still necessary to set priorities for a productive day of trading. Productivity and effective prioritization work hand in hand to deliver optimal performance in forex trading. To ensure quality results and high productivity, you will need to understand how prioritization improves productivity:
- When working on tasks according to importance, traders can follow a sequence of productivity that achieves timely output.
- Practicing effective prioritization improves focus. In the long run, this will lead to mastering of skill and performance.
- Because productivity is focus on the target goal, the constant attention to high value tasks can often lead to more opportunities.
When days of trading are filled with to-do lists and deadlines, it is important to still remain productive and efficient. Like in any career agenda, forex trading requires proper prioritization of daily tasks for either short or long term goals. Through successful prioritizing, you can boost productivity and greatly increase focus.
Top 10 rules for successful prioritization:
- Make time to prioritize and optimize your to-do list.
- Always focus on your forex trading objective.
- Do not hesitate to reach out to other traders for advice.
- Try to avoid distractions and lessen any inefficiencies.
- Maintain a healthy balance of priorities for work and personal errands.
- Learn to adapt to changing schedules and scenarios.
- Practice foreseeing possible situations that may affect your schedule.
- Execute energy management to improve output and effectiveness for each task.
- Get used to writing lists for the day, for the next day or for the week ahead with a reliable planner.
- Steer clear of any bad habits that hinder productivity.
Steps to prioritize your tasks for the day
Daily tasks allow traders to schedule opportunities to optimize and reach their trading goals. Much like a forex trading strategy, the process of prioritizing tasks will depend on your objective and personal preference. For a productive career in forex trading, here are the steps to guide you to prioritize daily tasks:
Step 1: Master the foundation skills
Ensure that daily tasks lead to the accomplishment of an important objective. Before anything else, you will need to take advantage of helpful concepts that will lead you to success. With strong foundation skills, you can approach prioritization of daily tasks like an expert. To achieve proper prioritization of daily tasks, it is important to first master these two valuable skills:
- Task management. To start strong, it is helpful to first learn about task management. Task management is the process of planning, tracking and accomplishing assorted tasks for a target goal. When you apply task management into your everyday to-do list, you can make decisions and schedule the right time frame for activities that lead you to your goal.
- Productivity management. To efficiently accomplish your task list, productivity management is another skill you can take advantage of. Productivity management is the ability to take control of quality output and the efficiency of every activity. It also allows you to measure and resolve productivity levels needed for effective trading.
Step 2: Start with the end goal
Whether tasks are urgent or important, it is crucial to always think about your target goal. To be highly efficient in fulfilling and prioritizing your task list, you must begin with the desired end goal in mind. Amidst a busy trading environment, having a target goal will help guide decisions in strategy. This also manages expectations from your daily tasks.
Step 3: Prepare your mindset and your tools
Without proper preparation, it can be difficult to prioritize and achieve your tasks. For busy forex traders, this step is often skipped. Before beginning a day of trading, it is important to set the correct mindset and working environment. To be highly productive and accomplish all tasks, it is beneficial to prepare your space and your frame of mind. Doing this will provide better work flow and initiate better results. For an active and efficient work environment, make sure to have the top 10 Must-Haves for the Ultimate Home Office. For a strong mental well being, think about the possibilities of the day as well as your end goal.
Step 4: Create a preliminary to-do list
An initial to-do list is a great way to start managing your tasks. Whether this is a big or small task, an initial to-do list shows all the things you need to accomplish. In this stage, do not worry too much about hierarchy of tasks. If you are new to forex trade, you may do research on preparation before trading.
Step 5: Apply the best prioritization system for you
When it comes to task management, this step is the most important. It is when you categorize your tasks and envision the best schedule for your desired goal. Since you are ranking your to-do list, take your time and gather all necessary information to create an efficient task list.
Prioritizing daily tasks are geared towards a personal career goal. In a fast paced culture, there are plenty of prioritization system developed to help busy traders. Because of this, it is important to try the different systems and find the one process you are most comfortable with. After trial and error, be sure to check your personal success rate. Here are the top prioritization systems you can try:
- Simplify with a two-list strategy. Conceptualized by Warren Buffet, a two-list strategy urges you to simply make a primary task list and a secondary list. The primary tasks should be the most valuable and should be your main focus. This is usually a top 5 list. While the secondary list categorizes tasks that you should not work on unless you’ve accomplished your primary list.
- Use the four quadrant technique. This technique classifies tasks into four categories: Important and urgent (quadrant 1), Important and not urgent (quadrant 2), Not important but urgent (quadrant 3) and Not important and not urgent (quadrant 4). This process enables you to organize your tasks by importance and urgency. From there, you can schedule a less chaotic task list.
- Prioritize through a criteria. When you have a short list of your tasks for the day or for the month, you can use David Allen’s four criteria method. To determine the hierarchy of tasks, his method requires you to look into each activity in regards to its Context, Time, Energy and Highest Payoff.
- Build four master lists. The first is the master list. This describes the work you want to achieve in the long run. Next is the monthly list which gathers the tasks to be accomplished by the end of the month. With a weekly list, you are able to plan your to-do list for the week. Lastly, a daily list allows you to note down the specific tasks to be done for the day. Practicing this system allows you to generate an overall picture of your goals as well as your daily tasks. It refines both productivity and task management skills.
Step 6: Monitor effectivity of prioritization
Do you find yourself having more free time to rest and de-stress?
Are you accomplishing tasks as scheduled?
Are you noticing an improvement in the results of your trading activities?
Are there crucial skills that have improved after setting high value priorities?
Have you noticed positive changes in your way of thinking?
To assess and optimize your prioritization skills, make sure to keep track of any changes for effectiveness. Depending on your routine and trading objectives, you should monitor your priorities and find ways to improve.
Stay productive and prioritize!
Priorities are a part of the process of setting career objectives. For continuing success in trading, set a structured to-do list that optimizes performance and drives you closer to your target goals. Oftentimes, all tasks for forex trading can seem valuable. The most important thing to remember is to set priorities that are most imperative to achieve your forex trading objectives. In the long run, effective prioritization can provide lasting career growth and personal benefits.