Picking

This isn't about guitar picking.

I have this problem...

Probably a manifestation of some anxiety disorder or something. But, I pick. At myself.

A big problem for me is that I pick at the callouses on my fingers.

The other night I actually picked them clean off.

It amazes me how quickly the body reacts to such things. Almost immediately turning surrounding soft tissue into hardened flesh. I guess you could almost say it's a memory, of sorts.

But yeah, anyway... It gets annoying. Picking skin off of my fingers. I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem when it comes to playing guitar. Was there anything that helped you overcome the impulse?

I find that I do things like that when Im bored or not really thinking about it. The thing that I do is just try to stay busy and eventually you stop in general.

I bought an emery board to file the callouses on my fretting hand fingertips. It works ok i guess.

Let your finger tips harden. Join the dark side.

Actually though, I'd bet that you could probably replace the impulse to pick at things, with something else.Like, keeping your hands occupied in another task. It's a trick that some smokers use in order to quit smoking. If you're doing it because the callouses are physically uncomfortable, then you could probably do what Nullnaught suggested. If it's more of a subconscious habit, you would have to work a lot harder at realizing when you're doing it and making a conscious decision not to. Depending on how bad it is, and how much the habit bothers you, I would also recommend counciling. It could be an emotional response to something that's bothering you subconsciously.
Hope this helps.

My emery board wasn't working good enough so i used some 100 grit sand paper and it worked very well.