OCD's!

[Lauren_ftw]

So, we either find them funny, or they freak us out! Regardless, it's always good to spill.

 

What is your OCD? It kind of makes us all realise how normal we are, and how normal it is to have these. (Whatever actually defines normal!)

 

I have a few, varying from the strange, to the boring.

 

• 
   
  
• I cannot leave detergent bubbles in the sink after finishing washing the dishes. the sink must always be spotless.
  
• I always turn the light off after leaving a room, even the hallway.
  
• I always have in my handbag in case of emergency: Pain killers, band aids, hand sanitiser, electrical tape (Yes...), and nail scissors.
  
• I always have a lighter in my pocket or bag. After the 7.1 magnitude earthquake we had in Christchurch, NZ in September, I'm always paranoid that an aftershock will kill the electricity and I will need to light my way!
  
• I love sandwich fillings of all kinds, but cannot eat sandwiches. The thought of mixing the fillings and bread together just doesn't spin my wheels at all.
   
  

 

There probably is more, but I won't let you know of all my crazy attributes just yet...

 

I've spilled, now share yours! :laughingsmiley:

[Cornflakes]

lol @ the soap bubbles in the sink thing - I do that too, but I never really noticed it as being an OCD thing.

 

 

-- I must rinse my face with cold water 9 times after I get out of the shower, and the bathroom door must be open while I am doing so.

 

-- I get very upset when my husband watches youtube videos without moving the mouse pointer out of the way.

 

-- My school supplies must be perfect at all times. I must have three of every kind of pen in my backpack pouch. My binder is organized by colored tabs. If my binder is not proper I feel that I cannot attend school productively.

 

I know there are more, and if I think of any I will edit this post.

[Lauren_ftw]

Hehe, it's funny isn't it! I think we do it so automatically that we don't realise these things until we stop to think about them! I'm not o sure it's a typical 'OCD', I am using that term very loosely! :P

[antiaircraft]

Hmm... most of the things I obsess about are computer-related:

 

• I must have only the windows I am working with open in my current workspace. Everything else must be sorted neatly into other workspaces by task.
  
• All my files must be sorted logically into the appropriate folders and subfolders. This becomes a problem if there's more than one place a file can go. I often spend more time deciding where I should put my files than doing actual work with them. I used to do this with bookmarks as well, but then I switched to simply dumping them all in one folder and using tags to help me sift through them.
  
• Graphical glitches bug me to no end. Right now, the input box for this post extends about 5 pixels too far to the left. And this modal list dialog is preventing me from resizing it. Ack.
  
• Okay, I've closed the dialog and I'm now coding this list manually. I prefer manual coding to WYSIWYG editing whenever possible. I'll even convert between formats so I can manage this.
  
• Files on my desktop must be neatly arranged into the relevant groups (even though my desktop is basically a dumping ground for temporary stuff). And the file positions must not clash with my wallpaper.
  
• A page must be fully loaded before I start interacting with it. Okay, this one actually has some serious practical use, since so many poorly coded sites actually bind all their JavaScript to the load event instead of binding as soon as the DOM nodes are available... but still. I have a slow connection.
  
• I could go on with my coding style and implementation obsessions, but I think I'll stop here for now. xD
  

 

Just your typical geek I guess. :P

[Secre]

Hmmm...I probably have an absolute ton but to name a few:

 

• All books in bookcases have to be ordered by genre, then by author and then by size. I get rather irritated when this doesn't occur...and am likely to reorder your bookshelf for you. Most libraries either love me or hate me as I will spend all day reordering their books!
  
• I absolutely hate sneezing and will for example chuck my boyfriend out of bed for sneezing to get an anti-histamine...this is largely due to a fear of what I call sneeze germs!
  
• Neopets related my routine stays exactly the same with a few occasional variances - for example my routine changed to allow for habitarium. But the same games are played first along with the order in which the dailies are done!
  
• I have to put the lucky fag in my pack of cigarettes. It is the third across on the back of the sliding packet, or dead centre of a normal packet. It is the first one out of the packet, turned upside down and the last one smoked. I get very very annoyed if anyone takes my lucky fag, or if my boyfriend buys a packet to share and doesn't turn one upside down.
  
• If I sit in a restraunt I have to be facing the door, and preferably in a corner seat.
  
• Likewise when I go to my local pub I get rather irritated if anyone is sitting in 'my seat'. Yes, I know it isn't mine - doesn't stop the irritation!
  
• I cannot abide touching raw meat in any form. If it happens accidentally I have to scrub my hands massively...so I avoid going near raw meat!
  

 

Hmmm...yes, I seem far more wierd when I put it down on paper. There are probably many many more...but I think that'll do for now! I don't want to scare anyone off!

[Octopus]

I cannot keep anything in the fridge (but not the freezer) for over a week. This is due to my mold/fungi phobia and the fact that I lose my appetite if I see so much as a single strand of hair in my food.

[-Ryan]

I can not leave bubble wrap unpopped. :P

I can not sit in a sqeaky chair without annoying everyone, I just have to do it,

[Seliphra]

Mine are:

• 
   
  
• I have EVERY manga I own in Alphabetical order then numerical,
  
• my book shelf is organized by : Hard cover fiction, Hard cover non-fiction, soft cover fiction, soft cover non-fiction, yearbooks, cook books. Seperate shelf for each
  
• My Yu-Gi-Oh cards (I'm such a nerd :rolleyes_anim: ) Are organized alphabetical by Magic, Monster, Trap then Alphabetically in each one.
  
• My room must be messy. Don't ask me why but for the LIFE of me, I cannot clean it. I freak out if it is.
  
• Tea spoons MUST sit on one another with half facing to the left and half to the right. Same with dessert forks.
  
• When I clean anything it MUST be PERFECT. Not an iota of dirt...and I use germ fighting stuff too.
  
• My bag contains ALL of the following at ALL times: Hand sanitizer, Lighter, Book, Notebook, Sketchbook, pencil, wallet, serviettes.
  

 

There ya go...there are probably more I have that I don't see yet....

[hrtbrk]

Hmmm...I probably have an absolute ton but to name a few:

 

[*]All books in bookcases have to be ordered by genre, then by author and then by size. I get rather irritated when this doesn't occur...and am likely to reorder your bookshelf for you. Most libraries either love me or hate me as I will spend all day reordering their books!

 

I'm totally like that too, but not just with books - with everything!!! LOL

 

I order my books the same way - especially by size. They also have to be sitting right on the edge of the self. If one is over the edge, or pushed in, I HAVE to fix it. I even have a "book ruler" to make sure they're all the same LOL

With movies and DVDs, they're by alphabetical order based off of packaging (box sets and "regular".) ALL the discs must be facing the correct way, too. I hate opening up a dvd and finding the disc upside down.

Our clothes are organized by color, and then by shade (lightest to darkest). Same with shoes.

Another weird one is that if someone leaves a room and doesn't turn off the light, I have to get up and turn it off, even if they're coming right back haha

I'm also big into stacking things. All the spines or "edges" have to line up to the left, too.

 

There's a lot more, but let's just leave it at that LOL

[Xepha]

Hum... lots of you would hate my unorganised and uncategorised bookself @_@

 

Ok, here are a few of mine now:

 

• Text on a webpage must be justified. Same goes for paper that I write for my class. Left aligned is uggly
  
• Times New Roman must be avoid at all cost. I prefer using sans serif fonts.
  
• Vertical alignement also matters. I feel weird when things are off center.
  
• For goodness sake, pay attention to the quality of images that you upload. There are way too many pixelate images around the interwebs!
  
• Code needs to breath. Give it some space, don't jumble things together and put comments when you are allowed to.
  

 

So yea, when I encounter some of these things, I go totally crazy :P

I'm also a real perfectionist when it comes to design in general. At first I focus on functionality of my projects, but I spend a large amount of time making it look 'perfect' according to my standards.

[Spritzie]

With movies and DVDs, they're by alphabetical order based off of packaging (box sets and "regular".) ALL the discs must be facing the correct way, too. I hate opening up a dvd and finding the disc upside down.

Our clothes are organized by color, and then by shade (lightest to darkest). Same with shoes.

 

I'm the same way. My DVDs and CDs are in alphabetical order, and the discs all face properly.

 

And I do the same thing with my closet. But I generally hang up my shirts, which are divided by sleeve length, from spaghetti strap tank tops, to sleeveless, to short-sleeved, 3/4 sleeves, long sleeves, and sweaters. Then within each sleeve length, they're organized by color.

 

Other things:

* My computer desktops must be as clear as possible. I hate tons of icons, so the only ones are ones I've deemed absolutely necessary.

* I must clear out my recycle bin, even if there's only one item, I can't leave it. It will drive me crazy.

* I must have folders for everything in My Docs and My Pictures

* When I use a new site, or install something new (or reinstall) I can't use it at all until I've messed with every setting and gotten it to my exact liking.

* I can't STAND email in my Inbox. As soon as I've read them, they get moved to the correct folder. (My husband's inbox with 2k+ drives me crazy just seeing it.)

* I have a special order of actions when I log into TDN. I check messages first, and reply. Then check and reply to comments. Then I'm free to check for new posts.

* In the car, I have to use the parking brake. It's such a habit, that even if the car is already off and I realize I forgot, I have to do it anyway.

[antiaircraft]

• Text on a webpage must be justified. Same goes for paper that I write for my class. Left aligned is uggly
  
• Times New Roman must be avoid at all cost. I prefer using sans serif fonts.
  
• Vertical alignement also matters. I feel weird when things are off center.
  
• For goodness sake, pay attention to the quality of images that you upload. There are way too many pixelate images around the interwebs!
  
• Code needs to breath. Give it some space, don't jumble things together and put comments when you are allowed to.
  

 

V, you appear to have passed on a lot of your obsessions to me. :P I don't mind serif fonts if they fit the theme though.

 

A couple more from me:

• When I open a tag, bracket, quotation mark, etc. in code, I must type the closing counterpart immediately. Now, this is good coding practice, but unfortunately I try to follow this even for stuff which doesn't have a closing counterpart. Fortunately I have a plugin in my text editor which takes care of this for me now.
  
• My tabs must be sorted by site and/or activity. Firefox 4's app tabs and Panorama are a godsend for me in this respect. xD
  

[Rose_682]

Ok, so I saw a few I recognized. I'll touch on them and add more. Lots of you would hate my bookshelves. As much as I want to organize them, I have far too many books....

 

- My icons must be placed in a way that does not clash with my wallpaper. This is very important.

 

- If a new icon is added to my desktop, my desktop is suddenly cluttered. It must be cleaned. All icons have specific locations on the desktop, and one more or one less creates anxiety.

 

- I must have, in my bag, at all times (and if the electronic pieces are dying, I must have their chargers, as well): Altoid's tin with med cocktail in it (something for everything), e-reader, Nintendo DSLite, MP3 Player, Cell Phone, some kind of candy (for blood sugar crashes), lip gloss, gum, pen, paper, and flash drive.

 

- My house is always a little chaotic. I know where everything is this way. If it is spotless, I end up leaving things over time until it is messy again.

 

- I must listen to classical music when I am doing data entry work in an environment with ANY potential distractions. It calms my mind, and focuses me on the task at hand. On the other hand, if there are loads of potential distractions, but I am at home doing this work, the TV must be unplugged, my internet must be disabled, and I must have complete silence.

 

- My DVDs and Video Games must be organized thus: First, in groups of the same series or type, second, in how much I play/watch them. After this, any other kind of organization is obsolete.

 

- I do not like drastic changes in my environment, be it on a website (I am using the original layout of the forum, as the new one not only immediately assaulted my senses, but insulted me by being orange...) or in my life. They must be avoided. For example, I moved from one location to my current one, and it took me almost a year to start talking to my landlords... LOL.

 

- I must eradicate the color orange. Not all shades of it, but certain shades. Burnt orange, the orange that's on the new forum layout. These oranges upset me. They cause anxiety. I don't know why. They just do.

 

I'm sure there's a lot more, but I'm not really looking to think of EVERYTHING.

 

Oh. Right. I cannot read a book if it has a spelling or punctuation mistake. As soon as I encounter the mistake, I feel the need to put the book down. This problem has made reading James Joyce's Ulysses a very difficult task. Near the end of the book there is a point where punctuation ceases to exist. I have attempted to read the book several times, and each time, I get a short ways through that particular part of the book, and can no longer read it, because my frustration wins out.

 

But yeah. We're all a little weird, I'm sure.

[Featherstar]

Oh, an OCD topic! 8D Yay for OCDs. xD

 

 

- I hate hate hate public metal doorknobs. Whenever I touch them I feel the need to sprint to the nearest bathroom and wash my hands.

 

- If I have something I need to remember to do, like homework I didn't write down yet, or something I have to send to a friend, I count them off in my head and even make acronyms for the tasks. If I have to (1) Do an English Outline, (2) Return a borrowed book, and (3) Charge my phone, I'll keep repeating in my head, "Three. Three. Three. English, Book, Phone, EBP, EBP. Three." It's weird, but I hate forgetting things. xD

 

- Crossing things off of lists. If I'm done, it must be crossed off. And then the list must be re-written after there are a significant amount of cross-offs so that it's nice and short and clean.

 

- When I'm not at my house, ALL of my stuff must be in one place. Preferably within grabbing distance. I hate leaving things in my locker at school - I just carry it all with me in my backpack and bring only what I need for that day. So I guess if the school burns down, I'll have all of my belongings by my side. xD But if I go anywhere else like a friend's house for a sleepover, all of my stuff goes in one corner and one corner only. If I'm forced to place things in different areas, I have to count how many areas there are and keep track of them, and merge them once that possibility arrives. xD

 

- Knots in earbud wires must be undone.

 

- Clothes must be separated into: not yet worn since last wash and worn once. By separate I mean on completely different racks in my closet.

 

- Feet that are not mine do not touch my bed. I'll scream at whoever their owner is.

 

- If I need to be somewhere afterschool or something, I envision myself walking from my last block to that place. That way, when school is over and I'm walking away from my last block, I'm automatically reminded to go to that place by my brain.

[Spritzie]

- Crossing things off of lists. If I'm done, it must be crossed off. And then the list must be re-written after there are a significant amount of cross-offs so that it's nice and short and clean.

 

I'm that way too. I go through so many notebooks at work, because I'm always re-writing my lists. I think my current notebook is almost empty, and I've had it for less than 2 months.

[livvy]

I have a remarkably cluttered house, but in everything except my home, I am remarkably compulsive about organization.

 

- If there's a lot of one thing, and one of them is facing the wrong way (like pencils in a jar or cross-offs on crossword clues) I will either correct it or make such a bother about it that the other person will fix it.

- When things are out of place at stores, I'll spend my time putting everything where it belongs while mum shops.

- If it can be put in rainbow order, I'll probably do it. This one is just for fun though.

- I must always have some form of writing utensil on my person.

[Secre]

Ok, so I saw a few I recognized. I'll touch on them and add more. Lots of you would hate my bookshelves. As much as I want to organize them, I have far too many books....

 

- I do not like drastic changes in my environment, be it on a website (I am using the original layout of the forum, as the new one not only immediately assaulted my senses, but insulted me by being orange...) or in my life. They must be avoided. For example, I moved from one location to my current one, and it took me almost a year to start talking to my landlords... LOL.

 

Oh. Right. I cannot read a book if it has a spelling or punctuation mistake. As soon as I encounter the mistake, I feel the need to put the book down. This problem has made reading James Joyce's Ulysses a very difficult task. Near the end of the book there is a point where punctuation ceases to exist. I have attempted to read the book several times, and each time, I get a short ways through that particular part of the book, and can no longer read it, because my frustration wins out.

 

Lol - my books are wall to wall in several rooms of my house. My father tried to move a lot of them up to the attic but I got so stressy at him that he brought them down, and couldn't believe it when I proceeded to spend about 8 hours re-ordering them so that everything was correct again!

 

I'm the same with my environment! If things get changed I get rather angsty and agitated. Changing jobs really freaks me out!

 

I am the opposite with spelling mistakes in books though - particularly if it is accidental! I love finding them and will write down the page of the mistake on a poststick note which will be placed in the book!

[sararoseee]

Is it sad that I feel so at home with this topic!? I completely agree with almost everything posted, I have quite a few of them myself, people call me out on being 'OCD' all the time.

 

When I leave a room, even if I can clearly see that the lights are off, I still have to flick my finger across the lightswitch to make sure. Everything has it's place in my refrigerator, and I often reorganize the entire thing. Actually.. I often reorganize everything I come into contact with. I can't help it. Everything has to be just so, at a perfect angle, in the perfect lighting, next to something of the perfect size, shape, or color.

[Viridian]

I don't know if these would all count, but here's my listy:

• I have to buy Lion King items I don't have yet *addicted*
  
• The first thing in the morning I do is check my phone :O
  
• I always sing along with songs on my ipod when cycling, except for when someone's passing me.
  
• I tend to take leadership over others as soon as it gets disorganised :P
  

[selusa]

Ooh, fun. Here are mine.

 

- Every song on my iPod must have album artwork and be properly named (Nice capital letters, no extra spaces, etc.)

- If there is a grammatical error anywhere, I must correct it (it's/its and your/you're are my absolute worst). Even if it's verbal, like if someone says "I did really good on my test" I will jump in and say "Well. You did well." (This annoys people hugely, if you can believe it). If I can't correct anything, I'll take out a big red pen in my mind and slash the errors to pieces.

- I must sit with my back to a wall, or at least facing the majority of the room. It makes me nervous to not know what's behind me.

- I always tense up and sort of get out of the way whenever I open a door towards me that doesn't have a window, because I've been surprised by people barreling into it from the other side.

- I can only ever have three icons on my desktop - the Hard drive (which I can't get rid of), and two word documents that I use all the time (a list of all my passwords for different sites, and a list of my favorite words, names, and quotes that I have to add to whenever I encounter something I like). Everything else that I need is in the toolbar on the bottom of the screen, all tucked away and hidden.

- I must wear a new pair of socks everyday. Putting on yesterday's pair makes me feel sullied and unusual. XP

- I can only write with extremely fine-tip pens (0.7 or something like that), because my writing is ugly whenever I use something bigger.

- I must always carry a book, a wee little flashlight and a Swiss Army knife with me. The flashlight is for when someone else is driving at night and I have nothing to do but read (the car's roof lights are a distraction), and the handy little knife is for any and every situation that I find myself in.

[UnitheXweetok]

Computers must be black.

 

My room must be organized.

 

I cry if my cards arent sorted.

 

Help!

[youngrace]

Computers must be black.

 

me too! i just can't function if it's any other color, ha. xD

 

i have a friend who has a hot pink ibook, and i have no idea how that girl gets any work done.

[Iona]

I have this weird thing where I start tidying other people's houses. I refuse point blanc to deal with my own room, but I used to drive my friends nuts when I started tidying theirs.

 

Oh and sometimes I get really grossed out by other people's bathrooms, depending on how hygienic they are. Bits of hairs, dirt on bathroom floors, sinks with toothpaste stains and other such things. I try hard not to touch things, start tip-toeing etc. But only in other people's houses, in my own, it does not bother me as much. Though I refuse to use the bath/shower unless I've sprayed it with bathroom cleaner beforehand. Ehe...

[xLaura]

The door must ALWAYS BE CLOSED!!! in whatever room I'm in. My mom comes into all the rooms every night to check up on everyone and she leaves the door open, and considering im a light sleeper i always wake up and lay there for five minutes wishing the door closed.

[mustardbeanie]

Haha, I love everyone's OCDs.

 

Basically, I'm a very neat person, and everything has to be neat and tidy (especially my room) or it stresses me out. I like to have things organised too, like the files on my computer and portable hard-drive have to be well organised.