[CQ-Contest] Improving Concentration

[Pete Smith]

Wonder of wonders, this message has nothing to do either with contest rules or cut numbers.  Please don't tune out, hi!

Until recently, I was pretty much of a solitary contester - never had any occasion to operate in multi-op situations, nor to compare my results with top operators.

Over the last 8-10 years, though, I've built a fairly capable station for the first time in my 53 year ham career.  I've also had a couple of occasions to operate at multi-ops with some top operators, and I'm struck by the fact that I do not seem able to consistently get the sort of results they do, even from the same station.  This is particularly the case in hell-bent contests like the CW Sprints, but I have the same feeling about the first evening in Sweepstakes, and to a lesser extent in the big DX contests.

To the extent that I can isolate the problem, I think it lies in the inability to keep myself totally focused in the moment.  Even in the midst of a 120-150 hour on CW I find myself not always totally "zoomed in" on the pileup.  Watching good ops, they seem to have a really special focus that I find hard to maintain, even for a 4-hour sprint.

If there's anything to be done about this, I'd like to try, even though at age 65 I am inevitably losing some of my edge.  So I'm wondering what others have done about this, whether there are particular techniques that you use to help stay focused.  I don't know what I'm looking for here, so any suggestions would be welcome.  If you want to send them to me off the reflector, I'll summarize anonymously.

Thanks! 

73, Pete N4ZR
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