Every week, I get an email newsletter from Penguin Random House called Signature. Signature includes links to articles about books and writing. Being a writer, I clicked on the link to “5 Good Writing Habits You Need to Learn Now.” As I was reading the article, it occurred to me that the advice could also apply to amateur radio.
So, with apologies to the author, Lorraine Berry, here are five things you can do to make ham radio a habit:
- To get on the air more, set up a time to do it. If you enjoy getting on the air, but never seem to be able to find the time to do it, you need to put it on your schedule. Set aside the time a couple of days, or a week, or even a month in advance, and you’ll be more likely to do it. If you set up a regular time every week, pretty soon it will be a habit.
- If ham radio is important to you, create an environment that encourages you to do ham radio. To make ham radio a habit, you really need a place that’s set up to do ham radio. If you have to dig out and set up your equipment every time that you want to get on the air, you’re just not going to do it. You need a “shack” that makes it easier for you to engage in the hobby. Richards, K8JHR, gave me some great advice back in 2012 on where and how to set up a shack.
- Create temptations that reward you for your new habit of ham radio. For me, being able to operate is reward enough, but you may want to reward yourself with a beer or some ice cream after an operating session.
- Make it easy to practice the habit of ham radio. This is related to #4. Your shack should have everything you need to easily do whatever ham radio activities you enjoy doing. If you enjoy operating, then it should have a nice operating desk. If you enjoy building, then set it up so that all of your tools are readily accessible. The easier it is to do, the more likely it is that you’ll do it.
- Start with the Two-Minute Rule for new habits and continue from there. The “two minute rule” is a tool to help you overcome procrastination. The idea is to allot just two minutes to a task that you’d like to complete or a skill that you’d like to develop. It’s a small commitment, but enough to get you started, and the idea is that once you’re started on a particular task or project, continuing work on that task or project becomes a lot easier. Not only that, those two minutes could easily become a half hour or an hour once you’ve gotten the ball rolling.
So, armed with this advice, I’m expecting you to get on the air more in 2019. I’ll be listening for you.
Great article. Last year I challenged myself to make at least 1 contact each day. I made 333 straight days with at least 1 contact. I learned so much. My tuner went down and I overcame all sorts of challanes. It has made me a better operator. Tim KM4WII
#1 is fulfilled for me by following popular contests.
#2 my shack is in a dedicated room in the basement. The only downside is that it is out of the way, and I have to make an effort to isolate myself from the family to play radio. Once I’m there, though, it’s nice to not be distracted.
#3 I find that eating/drinking is really not compatible with contesting. I find I’m just too busy during a contest to mess with it. I find that hitting mini-goals of 100 contacts, etc. is pretty good to encourage me to keep ‘butt in seat’.
#4 Pretty well set, there. I’ve been working on beefing up my workbench. Would like to add a better bench supply, and a bench multi-meter. Been following the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, and they have some good ideas for workbench-related items and projects. I’ve been much more active at the bench, having built a couple of QRP kits (Farhan’s uBitX and QRPLAB’s QCX) last year. I have the QRPLAB U3S and their clock kit coming.
#5. I have what I call my 45-minute ‘event horizon.’ If I perceive that I could accomplish something in less than about 45-minutes, I’m much more likely to start. Never mind that it sometimes blooms into a multi-hour project, with multiple trips to the store to get everything squared away.
Speaking of interesting operating events in 2019, the upcoming RTTY Roundup this weekend of January 5-6 will have FT8 as an operating mode for the first time. Considering that I’ve never had a RTTY contact, but I’ve done a few FT8, including Hound in DXPedition mode, I might try my hand at this.
See you in the RTTY Roundup?
That was an inspiring post, Dan. It’s taken me a week, but item #4 got me going on putting my two field radios and associated gear into grab-and-go-have-fun boxes. Pictures and write-up at the website link. Getting out the door for Winter Field Day will be that much easier this year.