Dumb Things I Do All the Time

After reading a post on a personal finance blog about dumb things the author does on occasion, I felt rather inspired to create my own list. But, I'm not going to limit mine to just personal finance, mostly for your entertainment. Now, I'm a pretty smart guy. I got good grades, I've got an above average IQ, I excel at most things academic, but I still do some REALLY dumb things on a daily basis. Really dumb. Here's a short list.

1) Hit the snooze alarm about 6 times every morning.
My alarm goes off about an hour before I really need to get up. Every night, I think that I'm going to get up when the alarm goes off the first time and take my time getting ready and enjoy the morning. Does it ever happen? Of course not. I hit that snooze button every nine minutes until I'm 30 minutes away from having to leave. The real kicker is that I'm sure that hour of intermittent dozing does absolutely nothing for my rest, and it drives MLB crazy. Yet, every day it continues. Dumb.

2) Put off doing laundry until the absolute last possible day. My laundry hamper typically overflows onto the floor several days before I decide it's time to do laundry. What this means is that when I decide to do laundry, it ends up being an all-day chore, and I hate doing laundry. It makes for a miserable day. I'm sure it'd be much less painful for me to just do a load or two every couple of days, rather than all at once, but I never do. In fact, I've even gone so far as to buy new underwear so I could put off laundry a couple more days. Also dumb.

3) Buy a soda for the drive home.
I know it's expensive, I know it's a poor choice, and I know it's intentionally marketed this way, but I always do it. It never fails that when I go to the grocery store (or Target, or Lowe's), I'll pick up a bottle of soda on my way through the check-out lane. Why? Well, because I'm thirsty. Why can't I wait the four or five minutes until I'm home and get a drink of water? Because I'm dumb. Those check-out lane coolers get me nearly every time.

4) When working in the garage, place a tool down someplace unusual and think "I'll remember where I put that because it's an unusual place for it."
For example: If I'm underneath the car, I'll place the ratchet on top of one of the tires, rather than back in the toolbox or on the floor next to me. Then, when I'm ready to use it again, I spend ten minutes trying to figure out where the heck I put it. Or, I'll put the notes for the motorcycle restoration in with the sandpaper, thinking "I'll remember that," and then waste 45 minutes later in the day. Dumb.

5) Leave my cellphone at work.
I don't get very good reception at work, so I typically leave my phone charging on my desk all day. As I leave, I'll bet four out of five workdays, I leave my cellphone in my office. Usually, I'll remember as I get out to my car and have to go back in the building, unlock my office, and retrieve the phone. Somedays, I forget until I get home. I leave it there on my desk, just charging away 80% of the time. Dumb.

So, that's a good start. Maybe now that I've put these dumb things into writing I'm stop doing them. Not likely, but maybe.

YFNN