Forex trading is a profession where you can convince yourself that your work is never done. There’s always another chart to read, an economic report to digest, or a new trading strategy to create or test. The first thing that comes to mind when we think of trading is money. How much money can I earn? How much money do I need to start trading? How much money should I invest per trade? You might think that the more time you spend in front of the screens, the more money you earn. But the time we spend in front of the markets is not necessarily beneficial to our performance.

If you stare at the charts and price action continuously, not only will you damage your eyes, but you will go slightly mad. Don’t be afraid to take regular breaks. Just make sure that when you do, you have reasonable stop losses in place or no open trades at that time. This is more critical when scalping or intra-day trading rather than longer position trades where you don’t need to be quite as on top of the short-term charts. Yes, you might miss the occasional opportunity, but this is inevitable in a market that doesn’t sleep.

If you are a seasoned forex trader, pushing yourself to reach higher and higher standards of excellence can produce higher levels of performance. But if you are a novice trader, pushing yourself beyond your limits usually leads to frustration, stress, and eventual exhaustion. When you have pushed yourself so far that you feel the pressure, stop, and take a break. Accept your limitations and relax. Ironically, you will feel a little energy boost and will suddenly feel empowered.

Those on the journey to become a profitable trader with high consistency in the effective strategies execution—needless to say, their lives are extremely hectic. Even when they aren’t trading, they have to sit down, read charts, analyze the market, find opportunities and then make their moves. Getting burned-out quickly is quite common. At such times, they reach a point when they have to make an important decision—should they continue or take a break? Taking a break and walking away from screens is important for healthy and optimal trading. Find time each day to get away from markets and recharge.

When you train your muscles in any kind of sport, you push your muscles further out and strengthen them. But building your muscles can’t happen with training alone. Rest is needed in order to allow them to rebuild and become stronger. The same works for forex trading: you need time to absorb the intensity that you have encountered. And you need time to clean your head as well. It doesn’t matter if you already turned into a professional full-time trader or not. Taking a vacation from trading will definitely allow you to clean your head. But you don’t always need a full vacation: just some time off. And when you are back, you will be more focused and achieve more in less time.