Many good posts.
Basically SA is good ground preparation and thinking ahead:
- where am I and what am I doing (phase of flight, next phase of flight)
- what is happening around me (weather, radio/traffic, aircraft conditions)
- where am I going and how am I going to get there (weather, navigation, airspace, radio/traffic, fuel)
- what do I do if things change (plan A, B, C - weather, closed runway, aircraft problems)
At that point one uses the tools available to reduce workload (ADF, VOR, GPS, moving maps, etc).