Reduction = Greater Efficiency + Focus

I just recently read a fantastic post by TraderRach and it got me thinking....

Years ago, I was a Chef in some of London's best establishments.

We had a lot to do in relatively little time... and it had to be done to a certain standard. The pressure to perform led to some great revelations. Suddenly, I found myself studying things which may have seemed irrelevant to some but really improved the bottom-line in terms of performance, freeing up time and energy which could then be spent in more productive ways.

Wasted trips to the walk-in fridge, to the rubbish bins...unnecessary movements to get to things which could be stored in a more accessible way etc etc. I soon found myself implementing various techniques- strategies if you will- in order to streamline the task at hand.

I later realized that my approach in a commercial kitchen was the main reason for my initial success in the markets.

It's not so much what you are doing as it is how you are doing it. It's all too easy to brush off certain procedures as being unimportant to the point where some people don't even consider them. But those are likely the very things you should be focusing on. Strive to do simple in military fashion rather than fancy done in anything less than.

Jiro is a fine example of this concept.

Reduce. Fewer markets, fewer indicators (which has never been an issue for me personally)

I used to have alarms until I realized that they, well, alarmed me and made me feel as if I had to act straight away or, strangely, should wait for confirmation. I used to have a sound for an order filled until I realized that it heightened my sense of doom (for stops) or attachment to a position (for entries). The same for trendlines and the "position indicator" on IB's TWS. They all encourage you to focus on where you are in relation to the market or what you think the market's doing rather than keeping you inline with what is actually happening.

Fewer moving parts with more attention to detail given to each piece is the way forward for me.