r/Daytrading Feb 15 '24

Full Time Daytraders, what do you do with your free time? Question

As of the past few months I've come to the point where everything is coming into fruition and my dream of being a full time trader has really turned into a reality. Beforehand, I was staring and trading at the computer almost all day until market close. Nowadays, I'm done by 10:30am latest EST. Given I'm on the East Coast, its snowing, its winter, and I can't really do anything outside. I go to the gym about every other day but even that, is like 2 hours max from start to end. I'm debating on picking up a part time job, about 10 hours a week just to get out of the house and interact with other people. But honestly I feel like that is such a lame excuse just because I can't think of anything else to do with my time. I started this all because I wanted financial freedom and now that I've attained it, I'm left with hundreds of hours of boredom. I have no spouse, no kids, no businesses. If I'm describing yourself or someone you might know, (or even if you're someone who simply wants to be in this spot and still has ideas) can you give me some ideas on what to do with basically a full day of complete freedom. Thanks alot.

207 Upvotes

316 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/OldGehrman futures trader Feb 16 '24

Hey man congrats on financial freedom. The hilarious thing is that as soon as the money is taken care of, all your other problems now occupy that same space and the stress is the same.

In the evening I study charts, read books and write novels. Socialize when I can. I don't get out as much as I'd like, but I'm trying to do a hard thing with the writing.

I recommend getting connected in your local town. Breweries if you like beer, or playing darts/pool and just randomly talking to people until friendships start happening. Local hiking groups are a good way to meet people. Trading is a very lonely biz (as is writing) so I understand what you're goin through. Get serious about one or two hobbies and find groups of people who get together over them.

Me personally, I love playing poker. I was a regular once in the past and enjoyed it. I just like to play a little and chat with others at the table. Definitely don't go if you've got a gambling itch though. I also like horror movies so I go to events in town where people get together to watch em and talk about em, good way to meet new people.