I’m addicted to checking my portfolio. People scroll through TikTok, I scroll through the tickers. This lasted until it started developing real anxiety.
Okay, but how did you stop checking your stocks?
I deleted all my investing apps and set up email price alerts for my stocks. Then I was always in the loop for price changes, but I wasn’t compulsively going through tickers anymore.
Here are my top 7 tips on how to actually stop the stock market addiction.
Checking your stocks all day won’t make them move faster, it just adds stress. Instead, set up price alerts so you only get email notification when something actually matters.
Using StockPriceAlerts.io you can set up stock notifications for each stock in your portfolio, or the ones you plan to buy. You can choose two types of alerts:
This way, you stay informed without wasting hours refreshing charts. Investor psychology shows that overchecking leads to worse decisions.
Removing the urge to constantly look reduces stock trading anxiety and helps you focus on smarter investing. This is the set it and forget it way.
Checking finance news daily feels productive, but it’s just another way to feed stock price obsession.
Headlines are designed to create panic or excitement—“Recession ahead?” “Tech stocks set to soar!”—triggering reducing market FOMO and making you feel like you must act.
Most of it won’t change your long-term investments, but it will add financial stress and lead to impulsive decisions. Instead, try this:
You don’t need daily news to be a good investor. The less noise you let in, the clearer your decisions become.
If you actively manage your portfolio, you don’t need to give up control—but you can make your life easier by automating investments where it makes sense.
I used to keep extra cash on hand, thinking I’d invest when the perfect setup appeared. Instead, I spent too much time overanalyzing, second-guessing, and sometimes making impulsive plays (looking at you, Nvidia).
Here’s how to automate without losing flexibility:
This balances investment discipline with flexibility, letting you focus on real opportunities—not just reacting to every price move.
If every market dip makes you panic, you might be taking on too much risk.
A simple fix?
Diversification to reduce anxiety—balancing your portfolio so no single stock dictates your emotions (or your returns).
One way to do this without giving up active investing is the Barbell Strategy.
How the Barbell Strategy Works:
This lets you take big swings without risking everything.
Instead of feeling trapped in every stock move, passive investing in ETFs creates stability, so you can focus on opportunities without the constant fear of losing too much.
If you’re constantly checking your stocks, the easiest way to stop is to make it harder. Blocking investment apps on your phone forces you to set stock check limits and break the habit of mindlessly opening them.
One app that helps is Brick. Instead of fully blocking access, Brick makes you physically tap your phone on an NFC tag before opening the app. That extra step adds just enough friction to stop impulsive checking while still letting you access it when you actually need to.
Other ways to reduce stock market distractions:
Checking less doesn’t mean caring less—it just means making smarter, more intentional decisions.
If nothing else works, the simplest way to stop overchecking stocks is to delete the app entirely. I uninstalled mine (e.g. IB, Yahoo Finance) and only use the desktop version now—it’s a relief not having it at my fingertips.
Why does this work? Because checking stocks should be intentional, not impulsive. When the app is gone, you stop habitually opening it every free moment. Instead, you check only when you actually need to, reducing stress and knee-jerk reactions.
How to make this easier:
Stocks will move whether you check or not. The less you obsess, the better you’ll invest.
Let’s be real—overchecking stocks isn’t just about being a smart investor. It’s a habit, like doomscrolling Twitter, refreshing emails, or binge-watching YouTube when you should be working.
It’s fueled by boredom, procrastination, and anxiety, and unless you deal with the root cause, you’ll just replace it with another bad habit.
Ask yourself: Why do I keep checking? Is it FOMO? A need for control? A distraction from something else? Once you know the trigger, you can break the cycle.
Here’s how to stop compulsive checking:
The less you check, the better you invest—and the better you feel.
