Should you take a break from swing trading during weeks with heavy overtime?

Fiscal year-ends, project deadlines, and sudden troubleshooting. If you work, weeks with continuous overtime are bound to happen. You get home late at night, and by the time you finish eating and bathing, you have no energy left. When such days continue for a few days, the stocks you hold remain in the back of your mind, and time passes without you being able to check them properly.

During such weeks, many people wonder whether they should continue swing trading or take a bold break. This is because the feeling of ‘it’s a waste to take a break when there might be a chance’ and the feeling of ‘it’s unsettling to keep holding them when I can’t even check them’ arise at the same time.

Today, I would like to organize how to approach swing trading during weeks with heavy overtime for beginners.

What is likely to happen during weeks with heavy overtime?

When overtime continues, several factors that affect trading overlap. First, the time to check the market decreases. You cannot find the time to look at charts calmly at night, and you become unable to fully grasp the situation of your holdings.

Next, your concentration and judgment decline. When you are tired, you are more likely to make mistakes you wouldn’t normally make. Forgetting to set stop-loss orders, misreading numbers, or placing orders without checking properly. These small mistakes can lead to unexpected losses.

Furthermore, your emotional state tends to become unstable. If you look at unrealized losses while under work stress, you may react more sensitively than usual and end up making unnecessary trades. Conversely, due to fatigue, you may avoid checking altogether and continue to ignore reality.

It is not a binary choice between ‘quitting completely’ or ‘continuing as usual’

Dealing with weeks of heavy overtime is not a binary choice between ‘quitting completely’ or ‘continuing as usual.’ There are many options in between.

For example, you can skip new entries while maintaining only the minimum management for positions you already hold. Alternatively, you can reduce the number of stocks you hold to lighten the burden of checking. By taking such intermediate measures, you can reduce risk without bringing your trading to zero.

The important thing is to realistically assess ‘how much can I manage this week?’ If you cannot manage at the same level as usual, you should balance it by reducing the scale or frequency of your trades accordingly.

It is safer to skip new entries

During weeks with heavy overtime, what you should avoid most is new entries. Immediately after entering, you need to watch the initial price movement to see if it is proceeding as expected. Holding a new position in a state where you cannot perform that check increases risk.

Also, the task of searching for new stocks takes time and concentration. If you search for stocks with a tired brain, your judgment will become lax, and you will tend to dabble in stocks that do not meet your criteria.

Just by deciding ‘I will not take new positions this week,’ you significantly reduce the burden of judgment. I understand the fear of missing out on opportunities, but market opportunities will surely come again. It is more efficient in the long run to focus during periods when you have spare capacity rather than pushing yourself during periods when you cannot manage.

If you already hold positions, strengthen your defenses

If you already have positions, managing them is the top priority. First, check that your stop-loss orders are definitely set. Check if the expiration date has passed or if there are any errors in the price or number of shares. This is the minimum point you should cover, no matter how tired you are.

Next, review the number of stocks you hold and the size of your positions. If you feel the burden of checking is heavy, lighten your positions by taking some profits or closing them out. Holding more positions than you can manage is a risk in itself.

Furthermore, check if major events like earnings announcements overlap with your overtime week. If they do, it is also effective to decide to reduce your positions before crossing over the event.

Make your nightly checks even simpler

On nights when you return home exhausted from overtime, it is perfectly fine to boldly narrow down your usual checklist. Only check two things: whether you are approaching your stop-loss line, and whether any major news has been released.

Wait until the weekend, when you have more energy, for detailed chart analysis or considering new stocks.

Taking a break is not an opportunity loss

Some people may feel anxious that “if I take a break from trading, I will miss out on opportunities.” However, when considering continuing as a market participant for the long term, pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion or losing capital due to poor judgment is a far greater loss.

The period during which you did not trade is not a loss. It is a period spent protecting your capital and preparing for the next opportunity. In fact, being able to adjust your trading volume according to your own situation is an important skill for continuing in the long run.

Also, while you are taking a break, you can still prepare for what comes next, such as by reviewing your past trades over the weekend.

When restarting, return on a small scale

Once the week of overtime is over and you have regained some breathing room, resume trading. At this time, there is no need to return to your usual scale immediately. Start with small positions to regain your feel for the market.

After being away from the market for a few days, your sense of price movement may be a little dull. Rather than trading in large amounts immediately and failing due to a gap in your intuition, it is easier to stabilize by testing the waters with small trades and gradually getting back into the swing of things.

Anticipate busy periods in advance

Periods of continuous overtime may feel like they come out of nowhere, but in reality, they are often somewhat predictable. Fiscal year-ends, the end of the business year, and deadlines for large projects. If you look at your work calendar, you can usually get an idea of when you are likely to be busy.

You can adjust your trading plan in advance to match those periods. Reduce your positions before entering a busy season. Decide on a period to refrain from new entries. With such preparations, you can respond without panic when you actually become busy.

What is important in balancing work and investment is not keeping your investment pace constant at all times. I believe that being able to adjust the intensity of your trading to match the waves of your life is what becomes the strength to continue without strain.

This article is merely my own reflection and does not recommend the buying or selling of any specific stock. Please make your final investment decisions based on your own information gathering and at your own responsibility.