Creating a System to 'Stop Looking' at Investments | 5 Settings to Stop Worrying About Unrealized Losses
# Creating a System to 'Stop Looking' at Investments | 5 Settings to Stop Worrying About Unrealized Losses
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## Back when I opened my brokerage app 10 times a day
I'll be honest.
About six months after I started investing, I was opening my brokerage app on my smartphone **more than 10 times a day**.
Right after waking up, on the commuter train, during lunch, and before going to bed.
If I had unrealized gains, I was happy; if I had unrealized losses, I felt anxious. It was an emotional roller coaster, and there were days I couldn't focus on my work.
One day, it suddenly hit me.
**"Wait, I'm not living for the sake of investing; I'm supposed to be investing to make my life better, right?"**
From that point on, I started thinking seriously about "how to stop looking."
Today, I'm going to introduce the **5 systems** I arrived at as a result.
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## Setting 1: Make automatic contributions "100% automated"
Many people are probably doing this already. But many aren't truly automating it in the real sense.
**The conditions for "automation" are all three of the following:**
- Fixed monthly contribution date (the day after payday is recommended)
- Pre-determined assets and amounts
- Settings via credit card or bank withdrawal to prevent "forgetting to transfer"
I have my credit card contributions set for the 3rd of every month at SBI Securities.
**Since setting this up, the time I spend thinking about "what should I do for this month's contribution?" has dropped to zero.**
Creating a system where you "don't have to think" is the first step.
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## Setting 2: Turn off all brokerage app notifications
This is subtle, but the effect is huge.
With the default settings of brokerage apps, all sorts of notifications fly in, such as "price movements of held assets," "market news," and "campaigns."
**Every time a notification arrives, you enter a loop of "curiosity -> opening the app -> checking the stock price."**
The setup method is simple. Just go to your smartphone's "Settings -> Notifications -> Brokerage App -> Disable Notifications."
With this, the number of times I open the brokerage app has plummeted from **10 times a day to 1-2 times a week**.
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## Setting 3: "Rule-based" checking frequency
It's not realistic to never look at it at all.
That's why the correct approach is to "restrict the timing of when you look with rules."
**My rules**
| When | What to check | Time required |
|----|------------|----|
| End of every month | Valuation and month-on-month change | 5 minutes |
| End of every quarter | Portfolio allocation | 15 minutes |
| End of the year | Rebalancing for the next year | 30 minutes |
Other than this, I basically don't look.
The moment you think "I want to look" is exactly when you shouldn't look.
Because when you make decisions while your emotions are stirred, you almost always make the wrong choice.
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## Setting 4: Mute investment-related social media
This is the setting I felt had the most impact.
When you look at investment-related X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram, they are overflowing with posts like these:
- "Huge profits with XX!" "Huge losses with YY!"
- "Sell/Buy now!"
- "NISA is dead/the best"
**Other people's gains and losses have nothing to do with your own strategy**, but if you keep looking at them, you will inevitably be influenced.
Especially in a falling market, posts about "it's all over" increase, making it difficult to stay calm.
After the tariff shock in 2024, I muted investment-related accounts for one month.
As a result, I was able to maintain my original strategy of "continuing to contribute steadily."
**Muting for a month at a time is fine. You can just unmute them once things calm down.**
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## Setting 5: Organize accounts by "role"
Finally, this is for intermediate users.
I used to have assets scattered across three accounts: SBI, Rakuten, and Monex.
As a result, it took me 30 minutes every time to figure out "what the total valuation was."
I organized this as follows:
| Account | Role |
|-----|----------------|
| SBI Securities | NISA (Contribution & Growth Investment Quota) |
| Rakuten Securities | Taxable account (experimental small investments only) |
| Bank | Living expenses + Emergency fund (6 months' worth) |
**Once the roles are decided, you can answer immediately "where everything is."**
This alone has significantly reduced my monthly check-in time.
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## Summary: Just do these 5 settings once
| # | Setting | Effect |
|-|------------|-----------|
| 1 | 100% automate contributions | "Thinking time" becomes zero |
| 2 | Turn off all app notifications | Drastically reduce opening frequency |
| 3 | Rule-based check frequency | Prevent emotional trading |
| 4 | Mute investment-related SNS | Noise disappears |
| 5 | Organize accounts by role | Instant overall grasp |
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## What I want to convey at the end
The biggest enemy of investing is not the market decline, but **"your own emotions."**
And emotions are stirred the more you look.
**Creating a system to "not look" is the greatest weapon for succeeding in long-term investing**, as I have realized after doing this for three years.
It doesn't have to be perfect. Please start with one thing you can do today.
I started with "turning off notifications." This alone made my life a little easier.
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**Next time, I will write about the rules for managing investments with only 30 minutes a month.**
If you like this, please leave a comment; it motivates me to write the next part.
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*This article is for informational purposes only and does not recommend the purchase of any specific financial product. Please invest at your own risk.*