One of the first things new traders ask me is how many hours a day this takes. They picture a Bloomberg terminal glowing at 5 a.m. and a chair they never leave. That picture is wrong, and believing it keeps a lot of people from ever starting.
The video above walks through my real daily routine. Here is the written version.
The actual time commitment
I set aside 60 to 90 minutes. That is it. Some days are shorter. Some days I do not trade at all.
Within that window, there are three things I do before I consider a single trade:
- Chart my levels. I know where support and resistance sit before the market opens. I am not drawing lines in real time while prices move.
- Check the news. Earnings, Fed comments, macro data. Anything that changes the character of the day.
- Wait at least 15 minutes after the open. The first 15 minutes are noise. Algos fighting algos, gap fills, overnight orders clearing. I watch. I do not act.
After that 15-minute buffer, I look for a directional move I can trade. If no clean setup forms, I close the charts and move on.
Why the “all day” myth persists
Most people who say trading takes all day are not trading. They are watching. There is a difference.
Watching every tick is exhausting and it does not make you money. It pulls you into low-quality setups because you feel like you have to do something. Your best trades come from waiting for the right conditions, not from staring at a screen until boredom forces your hand.
Trading takes as much time as you choose to give it. That line sounds simple. In practice it requires discipline, because the market is always open and the urge to check in is constant.
What I do when I am not available
If something comes up and I cannot show up at my normal time, I skip the session. I do not rush in late and try to catch up. I do not leave orders in the market unsupervised.
Missing one day costs nothing. Trading distracted or unprepared costs real money. The session will always be there tomorrow.
This is one of the habits I cover in the free options webinar, because newer traders struggle with it. They feel like sitting out is falling behind. It is the opposite.
Building a routine that holds
The traders who last are not the ones with the most screen time. They are the ones with a repeatable process they actually follow.
Here is what a consistent routine looks like in practice:
- Set a fixed start time before the open
- Complete your prep before prices start moving
- Define in advance what a tradeable setup looks like for that day
- Set a hard stop on your session, win or lose
A daily loss limit fits in here too. When you hit it, the session is over. No exceptions. That rule alone prevents the long, grinding days that end in revenge trades.
Watch the full breakdown
In the video I walk through this routine in real time and explain why each step exists. If you have ever felt like you need to watch markets all day to trade them well, this one will change how you think about it.
Watch “How Much Time Does Options Trading Really Take?” on YouTube, and subscribe to the channel so you catch the next lesson when it drops.
Nothing here is financial advice. All trading involves risk of loss, and no routine or system eliminates that risk. Trade only what you can afford to lose.
