Have you ever noticed what is on your mind (besides desire to gain)
while you are trading? What are the noises around? What voices do you
hear? Listening to music while trading can keep you focused and relaxed,
as well as block out unnecessary distractions.
Galen Woods made a selection of wonderful sources of audio pleasure to help traders relax and focus.
8tracks
8tracks is an online radio service that has playlists handpicked by its users, some of whom are true music connoisseurs. Tags will help you to find the playlists you want easily, e.g. “focus” and “concentrate” to find playlists for your trading sessions. You can combine these tags with “instrumental”, “soundtracks”, “classical”, or any other tags of your favorite music genre.
Galen Woods especially likes:
Due to its license, the service has some limitations, thus you are
unable to preview the list of songs within a playlist, and song sequence
get jumbled up each time you play it.
But the good news is that 8tracks is completely legal, so you can focus on being a trader, not a pirate.
Forexmusic
Forexmusic has a playlist of classical tunes meant for forex scalper.
The playlist has a nice trader’s twist to it. It warns against over-trading by reminding traders not to scalp longer than the music lasts.
The one-page website gives an overview of how music aids cognitive functions and the Mozart effect.
White noise as a sound therapy
White noise is potentially useful for blocking out distractions. It combines sounds of different frequencies. Due to the different frequencies in white noise, it masks other sounds and aids focus.
White noise is a form of sound therapy used to improve attention span and sleep quality.
However, its effect on cognitive abilities is still uncertain. The best way to find out if it works for you to try it out. You can try Simply Noise for free. If it works well for you, it might be worthwhile to invest in a white noise machine.
Disclaimer
Make sure that your trading alerts
are still audible while you are listening to music. Better keep your trading
computer free to sound off when trading opportunities present
themselves, and use an ipod or a tablet for the music.
You might take some time to get used to a new habit. Start off slowly and listen for a short period during the quieter market hours. If you feel comfortable with the music, then start playing them for a longer period during the more active trading hours.
At the end of the day, listening to music when trading is a personal choice. The goal is to enhance concentration and performance, and take only the very best trades.
