Keep a close watch on the progress of your mutual fund investments - but not too close.

That suggestion summarizes the approach many financial advisers recommend for fund investors who want to stay up to date on what’s happening to their money without sacrificing a patient, long-term perspective.

One of the main places investors go to gather information is the daily tables that report funds’ net asset values per share. As vital as daily pricing is to the smooth functioning, integrity and liquidity of the fund industry, however, paying too much attention to the day-to-day numbers can cause a sort of motion sickness that may distract you from your ultimate goals.

This disorientation occurs when people become preoccupied with short-term volatility, exulting each time a rise in stock prices raises the value of their investments, and groaning at each drop that lowers the value of their holdings.

“Many people are impressed with the money they make on their houses because they price them once every five or 10 years, and are perfectly willing to wait six months to get a fair price when selling,” observes Ron Muhlenkamp, manager of the Muhlenkamp Fund in Wexford, Pa.

If you want to avoid a preoccupation with short-term volatility in mutual funds, Muhlenkamp says, “don’t price your portfolio so often.”

As sources of fund information proliferate, you may find that advice harder than ever to follow these days. Where many people once might have contented themselves with printed quarterly or monthly statements, chances are your brokerage firm or fund family now offers you complete accountings every day via its toll-free telephone lines and its site on the World Wide Web.

The monthly statement that comes in the mail, with information that is maybe 10 days old by the time it arrives at your home, has become almost a quaint historical curiosity.

In this age of instant gratification, if your account in your employer’s 401(k) plan is priced only monthly, you may well feel deprived of a chance to celebrate its progress every time the markets have two or three good days in a row.