[CQ-Contest] Improving Concentration

[Eric Scace K3NA]

Some of the notes in this thread have discussed ways to make one's 
physical environment "correct" for the operator -- correct in the sense 
that it is no longer a distraction from what's happening on the air.  
That's very important.  After that, one is free to turn one's attention 
to matters such as those mentioned below.

I find contests to be completely absorbing.  Once the headphones go on, 
the following threads are always running around the brain:

-- the mechanics of working the QSO in progress, and logging it correctly.
-- the mechanics of SO2R, and logging correctly.

-- what's happening around my frequency?  how far away are people 
calling me... who's running above/below me... am I too crowded to be 
heard well in my target area... etc
-- what's happening right now to my rate?  drying up?  should I move a 
bit to get more in the clear?  is it time for S&P pass or to switch a 
radio to a different band?  how long since my last band change?
-- how does what's happening right now compare to yesterday, or last 
year, or this point on the solar cycle last cycle?  am I 
under-performing; if so, why and what should be done to correct matters 
right now?

-- forming, and updating, a mental model about what's actually happening 
in the ionosphere for this band and other bands.  The ionosphere is a 
seething, boiling, dynamic soup even less stable than the ocean.  So 
what does it mean when a UA0 calls in with no trace of aurora?  or a LY 
station has a bad echo?  or a VK calls in on skew path?  or a JA is 
heard on the long path, or from the SW on 40m?  how has that changed 
since the last time I heard a station from that area?  what might that 
mean for the ionosphere... and how does that affect my timing of band 
changes (e.g., spend more time earlier checking 10m?  expect poor 
conditions to east Asia and need to check back frequently for spotty 
openings?)
-- based on the above, and my current partial score, what band(s) should 
I be on to most improve my score... and what geographic areas are of 
primary and secondary focus on those bands.  Will signals be arriving 
straight, skewed, high or low angles for those areas?
-- in the critical population/volume centers, what's happening to 
contesters over there?  is aurora worse now?  will they be checking 10m 
now, or moving down to a lower band?

-- what can be improved in my operating practice and my station 
hardware/software to do better next time?  (jot down a quick note for 
review later).

I also divide the contest up into bite-sized pieces: hours and 
10-minutes on the clock.  I re-evaluate my current bands/tactics every 
10 minutes (and set a timer to remind myself to do that -- it's not yet 
instinctive and I can get easily distracted for an hour or more in SO2R).

I always chuckle to myself when people talk about "slow periods" in a 
contest.  There isn't such a thing as a slow period.  If the QSO rate 
drops, the challenge is to figure out what to do to maximize the results 
in the next little unit of time.  In a 48-hour contest, a few Qs per 
hour difference adds up to a significant lead at the end.  When 
conditions are difficult, those little differences are even more important.

73,
  -- Eric K3NA