What one kitchen habit do you wish you could change?

It's no secret that the kitchen is my happy place - even when dishes pile up, even when it gets hot and sticky, and even when there is no space left on the countertop because prep bowls, ingredients, and measuring devices are strewn everywhere. Yes, I grumble about the cleanup, but that small pain is worth the joy I get from cooking, and especially from baking. Over the years I have developed many useful skills and formed more than a few habits, most of which are good (such as clean as you go). However, there is one behavior that I want to change, but have not been able to: consistently using a kitchen timer.

Tonight provided a prime example of this struggle. I put a cake in the oven, noted the time, did the math to figure out when the cake would be nearly done, and believed that I would remember to check it at that time. I am both Lucy and Charlie Brown in the football scenario. I always believe that this time, I will remember to check on the cake. But often, I do not. Luckily I was just a few minutes over tonight so the cake is okay, but this scenario doesn't always have a happy ending. I cannot begin to count how many trays of cookies (always the last one of the batch) that I have burnt to a crisp.

The problem is not that I lack an adequate timer. In addition to the one built into the oven, I have a timer on the microwave, a standalone Oxo triple timer that counts up and down, and my cell phone. I could just tell Siri to set a timer for 45 minutes and it would be done! Using any of these methods takes mere seconds, but for reasons that remain a mystery, I continue to believe that my internal clock will be accurate enough. Maybe this is because it sometimes is accurate. I don't burn every cake or batch of cookies, of course, or I would give up baking. But I have ruined enough that I am committed to shaking this bad habit.

Like most resolutions, this is easier to say than to do, although I have been getting incrementally better at remembering to set a timer (or at least I believe I'm getting better). It helps that I now keep the Oxo out on the counter instead of in a drawer. Maybe I need a shock collar that zaps me every time I put something in the oven and forget to set the timer before this behavior will become automatic. What one bad kitchen habit would you like to break? And if you have broken one, what are your tips for success?