Some military flight training aircraft had (and possibly still have) a manually wound clock on cluster of cockpit instruments.  A relic from days gone by - named the "eight-day clock" for its power reserve when fully wound - it serves a purpose beyond simply telling time.  

During flight training - especially in the flight simulator - aviators are drilled on a myriad of procedures and tossed countless in-flight simulated emergencies to deal with. As the aircraft warning lights announce fires and the alarm bells warn of hydraulic pressure problems, aviators are taught to do one thing: Wind the clock.

Winding the clock pulls aviators away from the simulated emergency focuses those trainees on a specific task, a different task than the aircraft is urging them to address. Winding the clock forces their attention away from the noisy, flashing cacophony for a specific purpose: to avoid snap decisions and subsequent actions based on incomplete information. It allows a detached, deliberate, rational assessment of the emergency and typically leads to better decisions. Like so many other things in military service, there's specific jargon for this approach: No fast hands in the cockpit.

The same approach is warranted in your approach to long-term investing. Make decisions about the approach you want to take and then stick with that approach. When market warning lights are flashing, simply wind the clock and continue with your approach. If the financial equivalent of a cockpit warning horn predicts a pending market run, avoid having fast hands in the cockpit.  

The article below is written by an expert in human behavior who fell victim to the human fallibility he warns about in his writing. He knew that he needed to wind the clock, but he acted impulsively anyway and missed a significant appreciation of his long-term portfolio.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-04-09/why-do-investors-make-bad-choices