I do. A Dutch girl I knew at University did it too. Anyone one else admit to this weird practice? What does it signify? Is it, as I suspect, a sign of genius?
… or bonkersness? (a non-counter here).
I’m a counter. I find myself randomly counting all the time and yes, it is a sign of genius.
I count all the time, mainly because it’s an effective way of quietening the noise thoughts in my head. I put it down to OCD. 
Counting what, exactly?
I do it, too. It takes 20 seconds to fill my green watering can, and it takes about one and a half ninutes to get my coffee pot all fixed up and turned on, etc.
Freaky counting boy here too.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, done.
I’ll go with genius or OCD, no genius, yeah, genius that’s the one, two, three, four.
Arrrrrrrgggggggghhh!
Confessing here. Not only do I count the time of water filling a pot, steps to the mailbox, but even the amount of time to let the kitchen tap run before getting water from the filter. I also count steps while walking for exercise using a staff to mark off groups of five steps.
A lot of the time I catch myself counting when I’m actually measuring volume; specifically uncooked rice.
The jar we keep the rice in is too narrow for me to scoop with the measuring cup, so I have to use a large spoon to fill the cup. I find myself counting the number of spoonfuls (spoonsful?) when it doesn’t matter – I want a half cup, not X number of spoonfuls of rice!
i thought i was odd for doing this and have never admitted to doing it before!
Well this is kind of the same thing but not exactly. A friend of mine who is a former college basketball player and is now a high school basketball coach went with me to a Bears game a couple years back. We were exploring the new stadium, and climbed a long stairwell. I heard him mumbling under his breath as we climbed and gave him a quizzical look. He explained that for some reason he MUST count stairs as he climbs them. Everytime he goes up or down a flight of stairs, he’s counting. Also memorizes how many stairs are where - knows just how many stpes there are in just about every stairwell he climbs on a regular basis.
He says it started in college because the gym there had a stairwell in eac`h corner, and that three of the corners had 12 steps and the 4th had 13 and this always intrigued him, so now he counts all his steps on stairwells.
The bastard got me started doing it now too. I cannot stop.
I do the reverse - count down (mostly from 10 although occasionally from 5) before I do something. Most often this is to give someone/thing else a chance to redeem them/itself e.g. for the lift to arrive before I take the stairs or for the sucker at the other end of the line to pick up before I hang up the phone or Windows to hurry up and open the damn file before I hurl the monitor out of the window.
I’m a generous soul - everyone deserves a second chance
Grim
I count steps.
This stems from a time when two things happened.
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My wife thought she was at the bottom of the stairs, but had one more and broke her foot.
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I had had eye surgery and couldn’t see very well.
I counted steps to reassure myself that I was at the bottom. (there are 9 steps from the upstairs to the living room, 8 to the basement, 6 out the front door to the ground).
Never bothered counting any other time.
count me in on the counting.
I counted when I ran–every friggin’ step I counted.
Strangely, I count to 20 most often and then start over, so I don’t know how many thousands of strides I made when running.
I count as a water the plants-but that is more to give me an idea of how much water I am giving them.
I count when I am exercising now (no more running for me).
I also count when I am in a public place and have been upset…in a (usually) vain attempt not to cry.
I figured it was an autistic characteristic–but OCD makes more sense…
what fun we must be at parties! 
Yes, but I count so that I know how much water I’m putting in the kettle. At full volume I need to count to eight to have enough boiled water to make a pot of coffee in my french press. My rosemary bush takes two counts of ten to be fully watered in summer.
Sometimes I catch myself counting when I’m using water for something else and don’t need to count. Then I feel silly.
So, how many licks does it take to get to the centre of a Tootsie Pop?
I never thought counting while filling the teapot was weird! I just assumed everyone did it. How else do you know when you have enough water??
I knew I had left out at least one other thing that I count on a regular basis. The gas tank on the lawnmower. It’s easy enough to see into it and tell when it’s nearly full, but I always count to 35 and quit pouring. That way I don’t spill much when I’m tilting the filler can back away from the tank opening.
Oh, I don’t know,* looking * at it?
I count, but backwards.
When I’m doing something boring, I’ll guess at how much longer it will take and I count backwards till I’m done. Somehow, knowing how much longer it will take and the fact that the time is getting shorter and shorter seems to help pass the time.
The earliest I can recall doing this, I was 5 years old waiting for Sesame Street to come one, but it wasn’t due for an hour yet, so I sat in the living room on a stool and watched the clock for the entire hour, counting down the minutes until it was on.
The funny thing is that Mrs Stone thinks I’m impatient.