[MegaTuxRacer]

May I hijack this thread to ask if any of you have any compulsions that don't have to do with organization, cleanliness, or personal hygiene?

[Falan]

My room can get pretty messy, especially during the school semester when I pretty much slack on everything that isn't school or work, and it won't really bother me until one day it just hits me and I'm all "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" and go into a organizing/purging/tidying up frenzy.

6 months ago the only things in my room were a bed, bicycle (no garage and not secure outside), rug, nightstand, and wardrobe (The closet is keeping everything else out of sight). Now, after looking in there to catalog; in addition to the above there is a file cabinet (which I'm getting rid of), old microwave, 4 boxes of papers/notebooks I need to organize, 2 full Army duffels, 1 Army aid bag, the Army uniforms I took to last drill (dropped across any available surface), a gym bag, two plastic bags full of what I cleaned out of my car when I took it for some body work (which I need to organize). And any square inch of the floor not covered by all that is covered by clothing in various stages of cleanliness.

I'll clean the room when I get around to it or when I reach my own "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" point, which in addition to probably being sooner, usually involves rearranging the furniture as well.

In my defense I'm currently going through absolutely everything I own and figuring out what I can get rid of. Which seems to be a full-time job. I'm not a packrat myself, but most of my family is. Every time I managed to cut my possessions down to a manageable size, they come by with various pieces of junk (like that old microwave) because, well because, actually I have no idea why they do it, but it's really annoying.

Personally I've found myself becoming more and more minimalist as I get older, with the exception of my computers and survival gear.

I also compulsively check my speed when driving, which is a lot more normal, but operates via the same mechanism.

I used to do that. Then, I found cruise control. It was a natural defense to speeding tickets.

[lolthevoidlol]

@Falan- my exception to minimalism is books. I have a bookcase in my room that is stacked double deep, stacks of books on the floor and under the "bed", and at least a dozen boxes of books down in the basement.

@mkeath- see crazy touching, balance, pattern habits...

[lolthevoidlol]

I have the tendency to pick my skin and trim my cuticles.

Oh yeah! I fiddle with my nails/cuticles/skin around such constantly. pickpickpickpickpick

[Einsteinette]

I cannot study without writing the stuff down . No matter how much I resist eventually I take a pencil and start writing everything (in a very organised neat way). This mean that i need more time to finish what i have to do but it also means that i end up really understanding the subject. And being a visual thinker it help me picture the graphs and circuits in my head. It's compulsive in the way that i can't resist not writing,I'm not sure why though .... Any theories?

[Quinault NDN]

I will also spend hours organizing things.
If I do not lock the door or cannot actively remember locking the door, I must check it.
I check for my keys several times before actually locking my car door.
Everything must be clean and organized before I can start a project, otherwise I am unable to start.

I'm not obsessive, I'm not obsessive, I'm not obsessive, I'm not obsessive..

[Donkey D Kong]

I take medication for obsessive compulsive disorder. My iTunes library is actually 100% organized with Song - Artist - Album tags; all 20,604 of them.

[TaylorP]

You are compulsive.

[Falan]

@Falan - my exception to minimalism is books. I have a bookcase in my room that is stacked double deep, stacks of books on the floor and under the "bed", and at least a dozen boxes of books down in the basement.

I used to do the same thing, but I managed to compensate by switching to ebooks. Currently, have over 16 gigs. (Not all of which is organized and I expect duplicates in there) If I had that many books in physical form, I wouldn't be able to fit myself into my home as well. We're talking about public library sized collection here. Though I miss reading a real book from time to time, complete with the feel of the paper, the smell, etc.

[Audrey]

You are compulsive.

I believe that was the point of this thread. Thank you for the input.