River: How do you stop being dumb?

[mdlbear]

Yesterday morning I left to take the Y.D. to school without putting on my glasses. Not the first time, either. My current prescription is mild enough that I can occasionally get away with this, but still... Dumb.

By permission, (from pocketnaomi someone who can claim attribution in a comment if she wants; I forgot to ask), we have this intriguing question:

What do you do when you're being dumb and you know it and that doesn't seem to have any effect on whether you keep doing it or not?

To which I will sheepishly add:

What if the dumb thing is not doing, or putting off, something that you really need to do?

I'll go first...

In a few cases I've been successful at making a habit of doing the good thing, or replacing a bad habit with a good one. The procrastination is harder to deal with; even to-do lists only help for some things.

It's hard to persuade the people around me that I really need to be nagged, and that I wouldn't be embarassed or hurt if they tell me I'm doing something stupid. Sometimes a good code phrase helps, like "Basingstoke".