not read the instructions?
It's a bad habit of mine to want to jump in and then persist not knowing of tools and techniques that it may be advantageous for me to understand and be aware of. Like my Casio WK-6500 keyboard, there are literally hundreds of features I haven't uncovered yet.
Who else has this problem? 

Guilty. Because I try to be a musician first (when I get time to play) and not get caught up in the tech end. I want to know just enough to get the sounds I need to express myself, get back to coming up with good music, and get far away from my day gig as a software dev...Individual results may vary.

What are these "instructions" you speak of? ;)

Yeah, I tend to just start it up and begin poking around to figure things out. I learn by doing.

I usually try to watch YouTube, or any, videos while I'm waiting for the product to arrive. Usually gives me a running start vs. setting down with a manual/paper and trying to understand some translation. I've found that quite a few of the manuals leave me with several unanswered questions.

It depends.
When it comes to setup and installation, I've learned to read the instruction before I take anything else out of the box.
As for operation, I try to figure it out until I get to a spot where I need to look at the instructions.
With X1, I held out for 2.7 minutes.

I don't generally read the instructions before diving in, but I always look through things eventually. And I don't like products that are impossible to use unless you read the instructions first. 
 
And with SW I make a point of going through every menu, submenu and all the configuration options early on just to see what's there. Even if it's not useful right away, it will ring a bell down the road when I kind of remember that there's something that does what I now need buried somewhere in one of the menus.

Not guilty. For example purchasing software like SONAR, I read the whole manual before installing the software.
Well, PA 6 had a 900 page paper manual, now it's twice that size and pdf, which makes it less tempting. I preferred the book.
 
I do that to avoid the frustration and rage which can really ruin my day. I also find it hard  to start helping in threads where it's obvious the OP hasn't done any of the homework. 

Kalle Rantaaho
Not guilty. For example purchasing software like SONAR, I read the whole manual before installing the software.

Whoa! I'm just not that patient!

When I bought my A-800 controller I swore I was going to read the manual from front to back and take advantage of everything it had to offer. Reality: plug and play, as usual. Do the keys work? Check. Can I twiddle a knob and change the MIDI channel? Check. Can I assign the knobs and faders? Check. Does the pitch bend/modwheel work? Check. Onwards and upwards...

No time! I was actually looking at a folder I have with pdf manuals in it, and mostly for software. There are ~6000 pages there, and I am a slow reader. If I actually read them, I would get nothing done with the current version! LOL