List of my OCness tendencies
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an actual anxiety disorder, and is not just an expression meant to the take the Mickey on someone who is exhibiting an amusingly weird behaviour. Now I am not going to delve into the specifics and 
contentions regarding the said condition. What I do want to say is that I think, each of us have our own personal OC tendencies. We all have our own ‘things’. I will boldly go on and say that these weird tendencies help us create our own individuality – our own personality that sets us apart from the rest. It is how people remember us by.
contentions regarding the said condition. What I do want to say is that I think, each of us have our own personal OC tendencies. We all have our own ‘things’. I will boldly go on and say that these weird tendencies help us create our own individuality – our own personality that sets us apart from the rest. It is how people remember us by.I’ve always thought that among the six characters in the popular American sitcom Friends, I can relate to Chandler Bing more than the rest because like him, I like throwing punch lines at people every now and then. I’ve been re-watching the TV Series lately (Season 7 na ako! Hehe!) and I’ve realized that I share more common traits with Monica Gellar more than I realize. Yes, to a certain degree, I feel like I am a control freak.
So for my column debut, I decided to start with something personal. As I began to write this piece, I actually realized that the very theme of this column is an evidence of my OCness. Here’s a list of my own personal OC tendencies.
The way I like my ‘lists’. Lists help us to be more organized with our everyday activities. Lists help us to be more informed in a way that is convenient and effective. To a certain degree (at least for me, and depending on the kind of list), lists help us to be more in control. And this is exactly what I hope to bring in this column. I will list things that are worth sharing.
Proof of OCness: I maintain many mundane lists on my laptop. Most of which I would be embarrassed to reveal, haha! But no, they’re not list of free porn sites.
The way I organize my mp3 files. My music files follow a certain format (Artist – Title.mp3) which I have always employed since I started building my mp3 collection. The titles must be perfectly capitalized, even all the prepositions and conjunctions. I also follow certain rules when it comes to featured artists and duets. I also append “(Acoustic)” for acoustic versions and “(Live)” for live ones. All of them are converted to a bitrate of 96 kbps and have their volume normalized. And it does not end with the formatting and naming. All my OPM songs are in one folder, so are American Idol live performances, Christmas and Westlife songs (masyadu la kasing dakal, kaya separate folder la, ampo syempre, favourite ku la, hehe!). Whenever I download new mp3 files, I always format them first before I transfer them to my music disk partition. I also am finicky when it comes to my playlists. I currently have more than 80 of them (e.g., Mellow, Most Played, Love, Bitter Ocampo, Versions,UK
Proof of OCness: Come on, the whole shebang I’ve just related already proves it! Also, whenever I browse through someone's unorganized mp3s, I cringe deep inside and I have this nagging urge to organize it! Haha! Diba, Mike and Kevin? I do it for free, so come on!
The way I edit, layout and design my publication works. I don't really have a professional or technical background/training when it comes to publishing, but given my previous work, I do have an eye (or mind) for it. And in producing results, I always apply my deep know-how of MS Word (or Publisher). I am such a fussy maniac when it comes to text boxes, margins, font and font sizes, alignment, etc – such details that are barely noticeable on the printed end-product anyway. A perfect example of this is how I indent my paragraphs. The average word processor user would just nonchalantly use a tab character to produce indents. But being the fastidious freak that I am, I use the inverted-triangular indent marker on the ruler. That’s why when I was still in-charge of the printed Aslag, it always takes a while for me to finish it. Collecting and managing the article contributions is just half of the arduous task. Laying them out and fixing all the details (and I mean ‘all’) is what keeps me up until the wee hours, especially right before the deadline. Shifting to the online version of the Aslag did not make the job any easier. There are lots of HTML and CSS codes involved (I had to learn from scratch). And of course, there are the images that accompany the layout (I was forced to learn more Photoshop tricks).
Proof of OCness: The only difference between the printed and online Aslag is that in the online edition, I can easily correct any missed errors or flaws. Whereas, in the printed version, once it’s printed and photocopied, all the typo errors and misaligned elements are immortalized. And yes, seeing these errors bugs the hell out of me!
The way I manage my weekly allowance. I call it ‘brute force accounting’. My ultimate goal is to add and subtract and eventually determine how much allowance I have left for the week. Never mind that I probably violate countless accounting rules and practices along the way. But hey, it works perfectly well for me, for all intents and purposes. Since 2nd year high school, I’ve been receiving my allowance on a monthly basis so at such a young age, I’ve learned how to properly budget my money. But I only started this bookkeeping thing around my 3rd year in college. I maintain an expenses file which chronicles my daily, weekly, and monthly cash inflows and outflows – right to each single centavo. Each night or every other, I check if my expected cash still on hand is equal to my actual cash on hand, based on what I have been spending. If it doesn’t all add up (if for some reason, a few pesos are unaccounted for), well, that’s what the “Adjustment” entry is for, hehe! I consider it pretty effective because I get to watch my spending habits. I never get surprised and feel robbed when I realize I have already spent 80% of my allowance just midway into the week simply because I know where my money goes. I would know if I have enough moolah to watch the latest box office movie or treat myself to a fast food meal for dinner. Whether I am able to stay within my budget week after week is another story. But the answer is ‘not all the time’, hehe!
Proof of OCness: You can see for yourself how elaborate my expense file is for someone who has not taken any accounting subjects. I even keep track of my ATM Balance and my grocery expenditures!
The way I’m strict when it comes to house cleanliness. But only when it comes to our apartment, 34G. For if you compare how neat and orderly I am at 34G to how I am at my bedroom at our Pampanga home, you would be aghast. If the Pampanga version of me would be roommates or housemates with theQuezon City
Proof of OCness: I even have a house expense file for 34G, hehe! And yes, during our monthly collection of payments, each single centavo is well accounted for. We even have our own emergency funds that any of the housemates (and even other AguPips, ne Ferg? Hehe!) can borrow during the times when they run short on cash.
For me, there’s nothing wrong about being OC, especially if it’s just occasional. I say be as OC as you want, for as long as it doesn’t disrupt or seriously annoy the people around you. As for my own OC tendencies, I am not ashamed of them because I know that to a certain degree, having them makes me a better person by always trying to stick to a certain standard of doing things. Although sometimes, I must admit, being OC about certain things can be a huge hassle (there are times that I cannot even sleep at night!). But hey, if it produces the best results, why not, right?
So how about you, what are your own OC tendencies? You know where to comment! (",)
So for my column debut, I decided to start with something personal. As I began to write this piece, I actually realized that the very theme of this column is an evidence of my OCness. Here’s a list of my own personal OC tendencies.
The way I like my ‘lists’. Lists help us to be more organized with our everyday activities. Lists help us to be more informed in a way that is convenient and effective. To a certain degree (at least for me, and depending on the kind of list), lists help us to be more in control. And this is exactly what I hope to bring in this column. I will list things that are worth sharing.
Proof of OCness: I maintain many mundane lists on my laptop. Most of which I would be embarrassed to reveal, haha! But no, they’re not list of free porn sites.
The way I organize my mp3 files. My music files follow a certain format (Artist – Title.mp3) which I have always employed since I started building my mp3 collection. The titles must be perfectly capitalized, even all the prepositions and conjunctions. I also follow certain rules when it comes to featured artists and duets. I also append “(Acoustic)” for acoustic versions and “(Live)” for live ones. All of them are converted to a bitrate of 96 kbps and have their volume normalized. And it does not end with the formatting and naming. All my OPM songs are in one folder, so are American Idol live performances, Christmas and Westlife songs (masyadu la kasing dakal, kaya separate folder la, ampo syempre, favourite ku la, hehe!). Whenever I download new mp3 files, I always format them first before I transfer them to my music disk partition. I also am finicky when it comes to my playlists. I currently have more than 80 of them (e.g., Mellow, Most Played, Love, Bitter Ocampo, Versions,
Proof of OCness: Come on, the whole shebang I’ve just related already proves it! Also, whenever I browse through someone's unorganized mp3s, I cringe deep inside and I have this nagging urge to organize it! Haha! Diba, Mike and Kevin? I do it for free, so come on!
The way I edit, layout and design my publication works. I don't really have a professional or technical background/training when it comes to publishing, but given my previous work, I do have an eye (or mind) for it. And in producing results, I always apply my deep know-how of MS Word (or Publisher). I am such a fussy maniac when it comes to text boxes, margins, font and font sizes, alignment, etc – such details that are barely noticeable on the printed end-product anyway. A perfect example of this is how I indent my paragraphs. The average word processor user would just nonchalantly use a tab character to produce indents. But being the fastidious freak that I am, I use the inverted-triangular indent marker on the ruler. That’s why when I was still in-charge of the printed Aslag, it always takes a while for me to finish it. Collecting and managing the article contributions is just half of the arduous task. Laying them out and fixing all the details (and I mean ‘all’) is what keeps me up until the wee hours, especially right before the deadline. Shifting to the online version of the Aslag did not make the job any easier. There are lots of HTML and CSS codes involved (I had to learn from scratch). And of course, there are the images that accompany the layout (I was forced to learn more Photoshop tricks).
Proof of OCness: The only difference between the printed and online Aslag is that in the online edition, I can easily correct any missed errors or flaws. Whereas, in the printed version, once it’s printed and photocopied, all the typo errors and misaligned elements are immortalized. And yes, seeing these errors bugs the hell out of me!
The way I manage my weekly allowance. I call it ‘brute force accounting’. My ultimate goal is to add and subtract and eventually determine how much allowance I have left for the week. Never mind that I probably violate countless accounting rules and practices along the way. But hey, it works perfectly well for me, for all intents and purposes. Since 2nd year high school, I’ve been receiving my allowance on a monthly basis so at such a young age, I’ve learned how to properly budget my money. But I only started this bookkeeping thing around my 3rd year in college. I maintain an expenses file which chronicles my daily, weekly, and monthly cash inflows and outflows – right to each single centavo. Each night or every other, I check if my expected cash still on hand is equal to my actual cash on hand, based on what I have been spending. If it doesn’t all add up (if for some reason, a few pesos are unaccounted for), well, that’s what the “Adjustment” entry is for, hehe! I consider it pretty effective because I get to watch my spending habits. I never get surprised and feel robbed when I realize I have already spent 80% of my allowance just midway into the week simply because I know where my money goes. I would know if I have enough moolah to watch the latest box office movie or treat myself to a fast food meal for dinner. Whether I am able to stay within my budget week after week is another story. But the answer is ‘not all the time’, hehe!
Proof of OCness: You can see for yourself how elaborate my expense file is for someone who has not taken any accounting subjects. I even keep track of my ATM Balance and my grocery expenditures!
The way I’m strict when it comes to house cleanliness. But only when it comes to our apartment, 34G. For if you compare how neat and orderly I am at 34G to how I am at my bedroom at our Pampanga home, you would be aghast. If the Pampanga version of me would be roommates or housemates with the
Proof of OCness: I even have a house expense file for 34G, hehe! And yes, during our monthly collection of payments, each single centavo is well accounted for. We even have our own emergency funds that any of the housemates (and even other AguPips, ne Ferg? Hehe!) can borrow during the times when they run short on cash.
For me, there’s nothing wrong about being OC, especially if it’s just occasional. I say be as OC as you want, for as long as it doesn’t disrupt or seriously annoy the people around you. As for my own OC tendencies, I am not ashamed of them because I know that to a certain degree, having them makes me a better person by always trying to stick to a certain standard of doing things. Although sometimes, I must admit, being OC about certain things can be a huge hassle (there are times that I cannot even sleep at night!). But hey, if it produces the best results, why not, right?
So how about you, what are your own OC tendencies? You know where to comment! (",)
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