Ok so I've been really trying to study and improve but I believe I have noticed a pattern with myself, which got me thinking. What I find is I read up and study on a topic, lets say playing the top 19 hands as an example. Then I sign on and sit down to play utilizing what I've just been studying. Things seem to go great and I slowly increase my stack. I'm happy as a pig in shit as I am gaining although it's a slow process and I am totally ok with that. Maybe I'm up a buyin (stack went from say $5 to $10.20) and then shit starts falling apart. I evaluate the situation and determine I'm still doing the same things I've been focusing on but suddenly I'm down to $4 or worse yet $2.
Should I be looking at a time frame as I build my skill level? Would I benefit by taking breaks, or maybe just moving to a different table say once an hour?
Last night I sat down and had 4 tables going and was totally concentrating on only playing the 19 and making proper bets. I made what were for me some great laydowns and stayed away from things I used to jump all over. I was up at each table by at least $2 - $6 but then hit the slippery slop. I ended the session, which lasted about 2.5 hours down a total of $6. I only changed one table once when it died down to 5 players.
Please help me with some suggestions. Do I sit to long and give off to many tells?