📈 How I Trade Part-Time While Managing My Career: A Trader’s Journey
Most trading education glorifies day trading, scalping, and the “quit your job to trade full-time” dream. That approach never resonated with me.
👋 I’m Gustav - engineer, entrepreneur, and Part-time Equity Swing Trader. My focus is on high-timeframe swing trading - trades that develop over weeks or months, not hours.
This post is my way of showing how I make trading work alongside a busy life, and what you can learn from my strategy.
Why Swing Trading Works for Me
I don’t look at the 15m or 1h charts. My edge is built on the weekly and monthly timeframes, with the occasional daily chart for aggressive entries when price is already in my high-conviction zone.
✅ Less screen time - prep on weekends or evenings
✅ Clearer conviction - weekly/monthly structure filters noise
✅ Quality over quantity - only high-conviction setups
The Friday close and Monday open are key. They set the framework for the week and give me time to prepare calmly.
My Trading Strategy in Short
I trade using a high-timeframe order block strategy:
- Find Areas of Interest (AOIs)
- Weekly or monthly order blocks where institutions likely placed large orders.
- Wait for Structure Confirmation
- Bullish/bearish market structure shift around those levels.
- Plan Entry
- Aggressive entry if price taps AOI with confluence, or wait for confirmation on the daily chart.
- Risk Management
- SL always below the invalidation level of the order block.
- Position sized for max 1-2R risk.
This way, every trade is either high conviction or not taken at all. I wrote more about this here: 🧰 Order Blocks for High-conviction Trading.
Tools & Workflow
- Apple Watch Alerts ⌚️ - notify me when levels trigger
- Phone Execution 📱 - nearly all my trades are placed from my phone
- Trading Dashboard - track risk and positions in one view
- Pre-Planned Orders - limit entries & stops to remove stress
This workflow keeps me consistent without sitting in front of screens.
A Typical Trading Week
- Weekends - full analysis, mark AOIs, prep scenarios
- Friday - review weekly close
- Monday - confirm weekly direction at open
- Daily - quick pre-market check
- During workday - rely on alerts, execute from phone if needed
Example: My 📊 ASML trade review was built this way. I identified a monthly order block, confirmed the weekly structure, and executed directly from my phone. It turned into my biggest realized trade of 2025.
Mindset
The hardest part isn’t the strategy - it’s psychology.
I’m not here to be right.
I’m here to be profitable.
That reminder keeps me focused on execution, not perfection.
Final Thoughts
Trading part-time while managing a career is absolutely possible.
My recipe is simple:
- Weekly/monthly structure for clarity
- Order block AOIs for setups
- Alerts + mobile execution for efficiency
- Patience and risk management for consistency
You don’t need to chase every move. You don’t need to quit your job.
What you need is a system that fits your life. That’s what I’ve built - and what I share here to inspire you to build your own methodology.
💬 What about you?
Are you trading part-time while balancing a career or studies?
Drop a comment below - I’d love to hear how you structure your trading around life.