Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Does anyone else count everything?

159 replies

Canopop · 29/10/2025 20:03

I count everything, not in seconds or anything meaningful just arbitrary counting. Just caught myself counting while I’m filling my mug from the kettle 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I know it always takes 7 to fill my green mugs … is this normal do other people do this? It doesn’t impact my life remotely and I’m very chill person nice job lovely family etc no trauma… just thought maybe it’s not completely normal to count everything but maybe it is?

OP posts:
Original poster
Canopop · 01/11/2025 11:53

HelpMeGetThrough · 01/11/2025 08:54

No anxiety here at all. I just enjoy numbers and number patterns.

Show quote history

Snap

OP posts:
backinthebox · 01/11/2025 12:02

Mayflower282 · 01/11/2025 07:20

Counting incessantly is a form of OCD, it comes from underlying anxiety and the need for control.

If it helps, I have a thorough psychological screening every year at my Class 1 medical - pilots with anxiety are a bad thing. But pilots who can’t shuffle numbers in their heads quickly are also a bad thing! I’m not an anxious person at all. But I do enjoy measuring things and counting distances. Constant practice means it has become almost a subconscious thing.

Starconundrum · 01/11/2025 12:07

Canopop · 29/10/2025 20:08

Yes! I do it when grating cheese like there’s no need for me to count the grates 🤣 but it’s just what I do lol

Show quote history

40 grates of cheese to one pint of milk for a cheese sauce.

178 steps from my locker to the back door at work.

Sometimes I'll be counting and I'll realise I don't know what it is I was counting, it's so ingrained in me I just do it subconsciously now.

HelpMeGetThrough · 01/11/2025 16:26

oh 10 turns of the pepper grinder when making a cottage pie.

OH just told me she has to have an even number of cucumber slices in a sandwich.

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/11/2025 16:28

Canopop · 29/10/2025 20:12

Yes I prefer evens and sets of 5’s too.

No it doesn’t impact my life negatively I just wondered if I was alone 🤣

Even stairs are best. I have ADHD though.

Frlrlrubert · 01/11/2025 17:29

Oh yes, filling my water bottle is 12 (fast), hot water in the tea bag in a mug is 5, or 12 for the teapot. I count slower or faster to make it fit. If I’m having a drink of water it’s 6 swallows.
Stairs, cheese grating (the number doesn’t matter but I count it anyway).

As a child on car journeys I could only blink between lampposts. I’m not diagnosed ND, but it wouldn’t be a shock.

1000DayChallenge · 01/11/2025 17:37

AutumnCosy2025 · 29/10/2025 20:22

What do you count to help you get to sleep?

I've tried 🐑 of course & spiral stairs... corners in a box (repeating 1 to 4) nothing has helped, but having a bad spell of insomnia so keen to try something new!

@Canopop not the way you do, no. I wouldn't count to fill a cup or someone walking out of the room etc, that's too inexact for me, but I count things (stairs, walking steps) not sure if that counts as a yes or no for you 💁🏻‍♀️

Show quote history

I find the best way to get to sleep is pick a big number (100 for example or a messy one like 529) and count down subtracting 7 each time

I’d love to know if it works for you, it really works for me

AutumnCosy2025 · 01/11/2025 21:57

1000DayChallenge · 01/11/2025 17:37

I find the best way to get to sleep is pick a big number (100 for example or a messy one like 529) and count down subtracting 7 each time

I’d love to know if it works for you, it really works for me

Show quote history

I've tried that before & it didn't work. My brain just gets distracted but not tired.

ill try it again though

Pebbles16 · 03/11/2025 21:21

DramaAlpaca · 29/10/2025 20:16

Yep, I've always done this. It's normal to me, I don't even think about it. I like even numbers too. Odd numbers unsettle me slightly. It doesn't impact my life in any negative way, it's just something I do.

@Canopop @DramaAlpaca Prime numbers - scare the bejesus out of me

New posts on this thread. Refresh page