Lesson from overtrading: The cost of 'staying busy'

Thought I'd share a quick intro and a common pitfall I've had to actively unlearn. New to this forum, but not to the markets, been trading various instruments for about seven years now, primarily discretionary macro and technical plays on FX and indices. My biggest and most expensive mistake early on was overtrading, trying to force setups when none existed. It wasn't even about chasing big moves; it was more a compulsion to 'do something' just because I was at the screen.

I remember one particular week, it was during a quiet summer period for $EURUSD, where I blew through about 2% of my account just taking low-probability scalps, forcing entries on flat price action, convinced I could pick out micro-trends that weren't there. Each small loss, instead of making me step back, made me look for the next 'easy' trade to recover. It compounds fast. The real lesson for me wasn't just about the money lost, but the mental fatigue and how it impaired my judgment for actual, high-conviction setups that came later. Now, I'm a firm believer in less is more, waiting patiently for my edge to appear.