With the explosion of mobile apps, some of those that claim to simplify and improve every imaginable task and aspect of your life, there are plenty of solutions addressed specifically to traders and investors. Frankly speaking I did not find yet any of those really worth yet. The only one that I use is Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation, and that’s all. But I have found other more generic, but awesome apps that can track my habits, help me to focus and get more organized. Here are my favorite 4: 
How is a music app going to help your trading performance? Yes, Focus@will is definitely a music-related app, but the specialty of this application is, it uses music to help users concentrate better rather than letting the music disturb them. This is a basically a subscription service (but they also offer a free trial) that applies neuroscience tools to offer sequenced instrumental music in such a way that just listening to this music will not only help you calm down, but also make you achieve better performance.
Attention span is a concept that differs from person to person; but most people have an attention span of only around 20 to 30 minutes; the Focus@will too helps in increasing this span of concentration to as much as 100 minutes. This is a boon especially for short term traders who need to be on the alert always. No one knows the value of a minute better than a intraday trader, but also for longer time trader focus is important, if not on the execution, at least in the preparation and review of trades.
Source: https://focusatwill.com
The key in performance based activity is staying focused and that’s exactly what Focus@will helps achieve; this patented program works effectively in tuning your mind to work on the task on hand and filtering out distractions. And of course, you also get to listen to pleasant instrumental music of your choice while working; this is sure to make you calmer and less prone to instinctive decisions.
I personally like to start my weekend review of trades and setups listening relaxing music that lift my spirit and keep me comfortable. Focus@will takes this practise a step further by helping me to concentrate on my work too.
Focus@will has its own library of instrumental music of various genres; each of these tracks has been researched and designed in such a way that they work in the background of your mind to keep you more focussed and alert. This app also has a “productivity tracker”, a feature that’s definitely useful to track the most proficient time of day and time of the week when you work better.
Song selections are good; the music is neither blaring nor catchy to make it a distraction. In fact, it fades into the background in such a way that it pleases your senses, but doesn’t disturb you. Can be used on computers as well as mobile devices (I personally always listen from the mobile).
There’s a free trial period for this app after which you can opt to buy; doesn’t cost much too when you consider the benefit that you may experience. Just take the free trial and experiment on yourself!
Organizing can be more complicated than it seems; preparing lists, setting reminders, performing and more importantly, reviewing are often underrated tasks that are forsaken for on-the-spot decisions. Any.Do is an app that will help you achieve these tasks and realize your goals in an organized manner.
You may have your own to-do manager or calendar, but once you start using Any.Do, you’ll get hooked to it. With its multiple features like syncing to-do lists across gadgets, sharing provision, reminders and folders, Any.Do delivers what it promises – Good day. Every day.
Lists and to-dos are a favorite with traders that are always striving for improvement and accountability. Using an app like Any.do that can help keep a meticulous list of all your milestones as well as set reminders for future research and deadlines can make your day much simpler. Just spend a few minutes at the beginning of each day to review your to-dos (by the way, you’ll be reminded by any.do to do this too), schedule your tasks in this user-friendly application and start working towards your goal with the confidence that all your planned activities can get executed by the end of the day.
With Any.Do, you can prioritize your schedule of tasks to get everything done at the right time. This app can be synchronized across mobile devices and computers and even shared with others. So if you want to send a list of tasks to your assistant or another trader, you can use this app effectively, provided they have also installed Any.do in their device.
One of the fun features of Any.do is, when you have a list of completed tasks in your finishes to-dos, you can clean this up by just shaking your phone. A brisk shake will clear out this list. Any.do gives you the option of converting emails in Gmail to tasks.
If you don’t use Gmail, you can forward emails from other mail clients to do@any.do to convert them into tasks. So if you wish to take action on mails you get from brokers, other traders or any service supplier on a later date, you just have to convert these mails into a to-do task.
Acting on impulse is one of the most common mistakes traders make and later, definitely regret. An important prerequisite for disciplined trading is executing only what is planned and planning accordingly. Discipline is a habit; the Lift.do app effectively helps us achieve this discipline in order to keep us on track of our goals. It’s so easy to get carried away by that notorious hot call or trading tip, especially in this era of technology bring to us a lot of noise.
Use lift.do’s application to come out of unwanted habits and start your own development routine which will definitely boost your performances and strengthen you mind. Lift.do is easy to use, it incorporates a social element where others can see and agree with your habit goals, it motivates you in a simple, yet effective manner to work towards your targets and it also helps you track your achievements.
Which are the habits you need to eliminate? Copying trading strategies of others, emotional trading, trading without conviction and trading heavily on borrowed money are qualities to be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, keeping a stop loss on all trades, maintaining a log of trades, transacting based on research and trading based on your risk appetite are good trading habits.
The first step in getting rid of a bad habit is acknowledging it. By noting down the habits you wish to eliminate, you are taking responsibility for your actions. Lift.Do allows you to “create” habits. The new habits that you create should be framed in such a way that you avoid doing what you shouldn’t. For instance, you can make it a habit to avoid trading on margin money beyond a certain limit. The social feature of Lift is a big bonus. If you are a participant in trader’s forums, you will agree; when you want to inculcate a new habit like researching on a trade before plunging in, all you have to do is create this habit on Lift.Do and share it with your other trader friends. Through this, you can share your goals and achievements and also get the impetus to realize them because you know others are watching.
Traders need a lot of self-motivation to get them going, much more than others because they are not in an office environment where they can share their day-to-day stress and problems with co-workers and work out a solution. It’s easy to give up when the market goes against us; at such times a motivational app like Lift.Do can do wonders to help regain our confidence and work towards goals. Lift.do gives weekly and monthly feedback reports on your progress. When you see the productivity you have achieved by just sticking to a few simple habits, you’re sure to be amazed.
What do you do when you happen to get an interesting call? Jot down the idea immediately? Whether it’s a trading idea, a research task, an trading insight decision or simply some thoughts to add to your trading journal, you have a handy notepad where you record your notes. Often, the notes run into each other and make no sense when you review them later. Evernote is an app that helps you organize your ideas to make sense. Why Evernote when you have hundreds of other apps for different functions? The answer’s simple; Evernote’s simple. And more importantly, it simplifies.
Evernote serves as a notepad where you can jot down your ideas, findings, quotes and plans. Use Evernote as a trading journal where you can record your trades; successful traders swear by this habit as well as the medium. With features like web clip where you can take screenshots of different websites and paste them in a single page, Evernote offers a very handy tool for comparison of various charts and diagrams. Since this can be used on computers, iPhones and android devices, you have your notes with you at all times; this is very helpful when you have to take sudden decisions on calls. You can segment the information you fill in under different notebooks in Evernote.
Found an interesting article on the net or in an online newspaper, but don’t have the time to read it fully? Just clip the article to your Evernote and read it when you get the time. Evernote has an option to store notes in your handwriting, so you wouldn’t have to take pains to type them out, especially in mobile devices. What’s more, you can also use the search feature through these handwritten notes to find what you want. Evernote can even digitize your paper notes and save them online. Installing these apps doesn’t take much time and most of them are free to use unless you go in for the premium version.
As I mention at the beginning of this post, there are plenty of apps in the market specifically targeting traders; there are tickers, news apps that deliver the latest from different industries, information and advice apps, portfolio tools, trackers and live market watchdogs. You may wonder why when there are so many options, we’ve mentioned only these four generic apps as tools to boost your performance and increase your productivity.
Any broker, free or paid service can help you with these tickers and information. But when it comes to disciplined trading, there are no shortcuts. These apps help you culminate the habits required for real success in trading; these are the secret weapons of most successful traders.
A live market ticker app cannot replace an application that can help you research and journalise your trades for this is what is needed in the long run. The above mentioned apps are useful not just in trading, but also in our routine life. Traders sometimes get so immersed in the market that they forget to take time off working out, eating healthy food and relaxing. Use these apps to achieve maximum productivity in work life as well as personal life and maintain a perfect balance of both.
What are the apps you use the most, the one you cannot live without? Please share in the comment section.
top image: ihtatho