It has been written in various books on chess that before playing a move you should look at the position again 'through the eyes of a beginner' just to check that there are aren't any obvious tactical things like checks or captures that you have overlooked.
I was wondering how many of you go through this process, and if you do, what you're actual thought processes are at the time. I have had difficulties with this as I have got into bad habits of double and triple checking things. This is even more troubling when playing face to face games against the clock, when I tend to get into time trouble.(Not a problem on RHP I know.) I have recently taken to checking each of my opponents pieces once, in turn, and their potential threatening moves before playing my move, which seems to help in terms of efficiency.
I do the same thing, and yes I get in trouble with the clock in OTB games. But I think the advantages outweigh the disavantages. Every now and then I still miss a tactic. A plain, obvious one that I should have seen. Oh well, it happens. But I feel better checking the simple stuff at least once before I move. Just to be sure.
The downside is I sometimes play too defensively if I start "seeing ghosts". It's easy to get caught up looking and defending against your opponent's threats instead of making threats of my own.