5 Ways To Help You Stop Constantly Checking On Your Stock Portfolio

/ How to get started investing / By

Investing in stocks is fun, watching your money multiply over time has a certain allure to it. However, too much of this can lead you to be constantly plugged into the stock market. This is a bad thing as it will take away time from your family, friends, and will drive you crazy.

The 7 easiest ways to help you stop constantly checking on your stock portfolio are to remove any investing apps on your phone’s home screen, understand compounding return, go on a walk or drive, read a book, and play a video game.

Learning how to unplug from the stock market and your portfolio is key to remaining sane in your investing journey. Remember this is a marathon and not just a sprint. This article is going to show the 5 ways I have learned how to stop constantly checking on my stock portfolio.

Here at Chronohistoria I teach people how to generate above normal investing returns (called alpha). I routinely publish articles in investment research, methodologies, and tips/tricks of the trade. Feel free to sign up for the free newsletter to remain up to date on all things investing.

So, let’s jump right into the article; 5 ways to help you stop constantly checking on your stock portfolio.

1st Way: Remove Investing Apps From The Home Screen Of Your Phone

This is a secret life hack that applies to just about any phone app. Remove your investing app from the home screen of your phone so that in order to open it you will have to spend time searching for it in your app library.

This at first won’t make much of a difference but overtime you will subconsciously get tired of having to search for the stock investing app in your phone’s app library.

In fact studies have shown that people who have an app on their home screen are more likely to open it all the time. Several studies done over the past 10 years have demonstrated to large tech companies that simply having their app on the home screen of a customer’s phone drastically increases the likelihood that the customer will open up their application over a competitor. (Source)

Stock brokers such as Robinhood have purposely designed their phone trading applications to be as addictive as possible so that you routinely trade and open the program. This is why the application has a bright red and green interface to entertain. (Source)

The easiest way you can stop looking at your stock portfolio constantly is simply just to remove the stock investing app from your home screen. Don’t delete it as you might need to sell a stock in a hurry. Rather just remove it from your home screen so that you wont be tempted to open it.

2nd Way: Understanding Compounding Return

Every single time you touch your stock portfolio you are lowering your total return. This is because the longer an investment is left untouched the higher the compounding returns are.

In fact the power of compounding returns essentially means that you should just invest and walk away. Don’t bother looking at your portfolio because you can’t make it work any faster.

To illustrate this here is a chart demonstrating what happens to a $100,000 portfolio left alone for 30 years.

In the above graph you never touched a $100,000 portfolio for 30 years. You simply invested and then went on with your life. This portfolio returned between 7-10% for 30 years. At the end of that 30 year mark the $100,000 portfolio was now worth nearly $800,000 and gives you $50,000 a year in dividends.

The reason you never would have to monitor this portfolio is because it takes advantage of compounding returns. Your first year in the stock market would net you 9.25%, the next year another 9.25%, and so on. After 30 years of this you would be making massive returns per year.

Understanding that your portfolio needs time to grow and that you should never touch it is key to stopping constantly checking your stock portfolio. You just need to relax and pick good stocks. I wrote up an entire article on how to do just that. (You can check it out by clicking here)

3rd Way: Go On A Walk Or A Drive

A lot of time people get wound up in the moment. This includes people like us, stock investors. Sometimes the best cure for constantly checking on your stock portfolio is to simply go on a walk or long drive.

The reason behind this is because you will be subconsciously engaged with something else. As you walk you will have time to clear your head and forget about checking on your stock portfolio for the time being.

Studies have shown that walking will prevent moderate amounts of stress. This includes stress induced from constantly monitoring your stock portfolio. So get up and go for a walk without your phone. (Source)

The trick here is to put your phone away in a place where you wont pick it up while you’re walking. Remember the goal here is to stop yourself from constantly checking on your stock portfolio.

I personally go for a walk either around my neighborhood or at a nearby park. I can’t influence the market and as such I should not worry about my portfolio. So long as I did my homework properly I am confident that I will return a decent ROI on my investment portfolio per year.

4th Way: Read A Book

One of the easiest ways to stop yourself from constantly checking on your stock portfolio is to put down the phone and pick up a book. I recommend grabbing a book that is easy to get into and hard to put down.

Trust me, when you find a good book you will know. It will cause you to instantly stop checking on your stock portfolio for a while, depending on how fast you read. Recently I grabbed a book at a local book store and completely forgot about the stock market, which caused me to be late to a meeting.

The reason that a book will cause you to stop checking on a stock portfolio is because of the nature of reading. Reading requires your complete attention and time. Once you find a book you like you will not take the time to do anything else, especially look at the stock market.

5th Way: Play A Video Game

Video games are an amazing way to unplug from the stock market. This is because they are completely immersive and force the player to devote all of their attention to the game.

Most of the retail traders I have met play video games to remove themselves from the stress of the stock market. Stock brokers understand this and make their trading apps as game-like as possible. This includes easy buttons, green and red reward screens, and even in some cases chatrooms where other investors can share pictures, memes, and stock investment strategies.

Playing video games is one of the easiest ways to help you to stop constantly checking on your stock portfolio. I play video games for this sole purpose, it removes me from the daily stress of the markets.

Conclusion

There you have it;  5 ways to help you stop constantly checking your stock on your stock portfolio. By implementing these tips you will overtime stop checking on your stock portfolio and should see your total return actually go up.

This is because the less we touch our portfolios the higher likelihood we have of actually making more money in the long term. I am all about increasing the ROI on a portfolio, and as such I am all for portfolios that are just a fire and forget mentality.

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Further, you can check out more investing articles below.

Until next time, I wish you the best of luck in your investing journey.

Sincerely,