Doing Less is the Counterintuitive Secret

When I asked what worked in 2025, I expected to hear about strategies, sectors, and setups.

Instead, multiple traders told me the same surprising thing: they did less and made more.

This goes against everything our culture teaches us. More effort equals more results, right?

Not in trading.

Today is part three of a 4-part series where I continue sharing what your fellow traders learned this year. (Using initials to respect privacy)

The Simple Truth

PP's response was the shortest and most profound:

"The thing that worked most for me was doing less. The less I do the more that gets accomplished. It's crazy."

Four sentences. Complete wisdom.

Crazy? Maybe. But multiple traders discovered the same counterintuitive reality.

The Time Zone Advantage

KB had one of the most interesting stories. He took a travel nursing contract in Guam, putting him 14 hours ahead of the East Coast:

"Around 11:30 PM–12:00 AM local time, I'd place my orders and then go to sleep. Being away from the screen and being forced to be more 'patient' (sleeping) helped turn my year around. I often woke up to solid gains, far more than I likely would have made if I were actively watching the position and reacting emotionally. Not being able to panic sell or take profits too quickly made a huge difference."

He couldn't watch. He had to sleep. And that limitation became his edge.

"This experience really shifted my outlook on trading. Now I mostly go about my day and trade from my phone. I miss some entries and exits, but with defined risk and less emotional involvement, I feel much happier and more balanced overall."

Happier. More balanced. Making better decisions.

All because he couldn't obsessively watch every tick.

The Desk Trap

K described what happened when he tried more active trading:

"When I used to sit at the computer, I'd get anxious thinking, 'I've been here for three hours and only made X — how am I going to hit my daily goal?' That mindset often led to forcing trades, revenge trading, and larger losses."

Sitting at the computer created pressure to justify the time. That pressure led to forcing trades. Forced trades led to losses.

The solution? Stop sitting at the computer.

U shared a similar discovery: "To be honest, doing less. Checking charts less, worrying about stops less. I switched to a more demanding job in the spring that takes a lot more of my time and attention during market hours so I really only monitor when the market is closed. I have my stops, and I'm not worrying about every tick, I'm just seeing where my positions closed and acting accordingly."

His job forced him to pay less attention. His trading improved.

The Selectivity Factor

JH described his filtering process: "I do filter most of them and focus on the ones I feel are going to have a better chance of success. I could write down over 60 trade ideas shared but only open 5-10."

Sixty ideas. Five to ten trades.

That's the discipline of doing less.

He also mentioned: "Retail traders can be distracted with so much information. Youtube, Slack, Telegram, Discord, X, Whatsapp. I've already cut down on what I consume and need to continue to focus on the ones that can really help me make money."

Cutting down on noise. Focusing on signal.

PTS made peace with his limitations: "What worked for me was finally accepting that as a married dude with kids and a full time job, I simply don't have as much time as professionals and other full time traders to spend analyzing charts and watching videos. Thus, I've accepted that I have to prioritize which services, shows, articles, etc. that I consume."

He couldn't do everything. So he prioritized. And accepted that he'd miss some trades.

"Do I wish it were different? Sure. But accepting the above has helped me make peace with the fact that I can't take every trade AND be ok with that."

Being okay with missing trades. That's advanced.

The Quality Over Quantity Shift

L nailed the principle: "I learned that smaller position sizes, predefined exits, and focusing on higher-quality setups consistently produced better results than forcing activity."

Forcing activity. We've all done it.

Sitting in front of screens feeling like we should be doing something. Taking marginal setups because we're there and we're bored and we want action.

That's not trading. That's entertainment with a brokerage account.

P identified his challenge clearly: "This year, I was aligned with the market environment (great near the mid-year), and my trend continuation plays paid big. Then, near the end of the year things got choppy and I gave a bunch back trying the same strategy. I need a better way to identify if we are in a trend environment or a choppy one, and then I need a strategy for chop other than 'sit on my hands until we trend'."

"Sit on my hands until we trend."

Sometimes that IS the strategy.

The Patience Paradox

G identified his issue: "I really didn't have that great of a year - sold too soon - had too many positions... This year I will concentrate on smaller positions, and follow the process."

Too many positions. The opposite problem of most people who think they're not doing enough.

More isn't better if you can't manage what you have.

C found his answer in William O'Neil's approach: "The one thing his style followed was allowing correct bases to form and only then entering trades."

Waiting for correct bases. Patience before entry.

S focused everything on one stock: "I found out more about this company Unity after an ER play went wrong... I know I am only scratching the surface at what is possible even trading only this one stock. This one strategy. Yes my eggs all in one basket, but it worked. My account is up 4x this year."

One stock. One strategy. 4x returns.

How many traders are spreading themselves across dozens of positions and underperforming that?

The Space Connection

This connects directly to what I wrote about earlier this year—creating space. Not just physical space, but mental space.

LB described her breakthrough: "I learned to better acknowledge the emotions I feel while trading (anxiety, anger, frustration, elation) without letting them take over. I see emotion as created by the circumstance of the day and tomorrow is another day. One bad trade isn't the end of the world, its just part of the game. This helped me focus on one trade at a time instead of allowing one emotion to color everything I was doing for the day."

Space between stimulus and response. Space between trades. Space between emotions and actions.

That space is where good decisions live.

The Real Lesson

Here's what these traders discovered: the market rewards patience more than activity.

You don't get paid for the number of trades you make. You get paid for the quality of your execution.

Sitting at your desk for eight hours watching every tick doesn't make you a better trader. It makes you a more anxious trader. It creates pressure to justify your time. It leads to forcing trades that don't meet your criteria.

The best traders I know spend most of their time doing nothing. Waiting. Watching. Preparing.

Then when the setup appears, they execute.

K sleeping through his trades in Guam. U checking once at the close. PP doing less and accomplishing more.

They're not lazy. They're selective.

There's a massive difference between patience and inactivity. Patience is active waiting with purpose. Inactivity is just not doing anything.

These traders were patient. They had criteria. They waited for those criteria to be met. And when they weren't met, they did nothing.

That's the hardest skill in trading. Doing nothing when there's nothing to do.

The Challenge

Can you sit in front of your screens and make zero trades today? Can you go a week without entering a new position if nothing meets your criteria?

Can you miss a trade that works without feeling like you failed?

That's the test.

Not whether you can find trades. Whether you can avoid trades that don't fit.

The traders who thrived in 2025 weren't the busiest. They were the most selective.

They did less. And paradoxically, they accomplished more.

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Sean McLaughlin | Chief Options Strategist, All Star Charts