Running the Desk: Modes & Workflow

Goal: Operate like a desk: a daily routine, defined modes, and pre-decided responses to common states.

A desk is not a person staring at charts. It is a routine that makes the staring unnecessary.

The daily open (10 minutes)

State check: open positions, distances to SL/TP1, anything near a decision point.
Regime read: volatility regime and higher-timeframe bias for your markets — calm compression, established trend, or post-expansion chop.
Calendar: anything scheduled that turns the next hours into coin-flip conditions.
Budget check: slots open? Net lean acceptable? Now you may receive signals.

Modes, decided in advance

NORMAL — budgets open, regime readable. Full checklist trading.

REDUCED — after a losing streak or in hostile regime: risk% halves, max positions drop, only top-tier setups admitted. The point is staying in motion with less surface area, not proving toughness.

HALT — circuit breaker tripped (M04 defines them), major event window, or you are not okay (sick, tilted, distracted). The book goes flat or fully managed, and no new admissions. HALT is a mode, not a failure.

The trap modes prevent: deciding your posture WHILE bleeding. The desk decided in advance; you just check which mode today is.

The signal-to-desk flow

daily open → mode set → signal arrives → M02 checklist
→ budgets consulted → order with SL/TP1 → journal entry (next lesson)

Boring on purpose. The excitement budget is spent inside trades, never on process.

Takeaways

▸ Ten-minute daily open: state, regime, calendar, budgets — before any signal.
▸ Three modes decided in advance: NORMAL / REDUCED / HALT.
▸ Never decide posture while bleeding. Check the mode; obey the mode.

Checkpoint

Answer all questions correctly to complete the lesson. Misses reset for another pass — no penalty.

1. Two losses yesterday, choppy regime today. Mode:

2. HALT exists for:

3. The daily open happens: