SB vs BB

One of the areas of poker that is probably not making me nearly as much as it should make me is when I am in the blinds, and particularly when I am the small blind. Currently I only play tournaments.

I look at my hole cards before anyone has bet, and if it's anything other than a premium hand when I am the small blind I am checking that little box that says "Fold".

If it's anything other than a premium hand and I am the big blind I am checking that little box that says "Check/Fold".

The underlying issue here is a feeling that I don't want to be seen to be a slow player that is "holding the game up".

Quite often I encounter a situation where everybody folds around to the button, the button limps and the BB checks. In those situations I have found that if the button limps and I put in a decent raise (say 5 x BB) the BB and the button will often both fold.

Or if I am the SB I just put in enough to call the BB, then if I hit on the flop I can often take the pot down.

So I probably need to stop thinking that I am playing against nine opponents, and if everyone folds around to the button (and I am SB or BB) I need to start thinking that I am playing against just one or two opponents, and widen my range of hands accordingly?

The following is cash knowledge applied to tournaments, take it with a grain of salt.

Never do this. It's ok to give up a lot blind vs blind when you're SB, but when you're BB consider yourself to be the button when it folds to SB.

This sort of reasoning is costing you money.

This is really bad.
You're putting yourself completely at his mercy. He has position and he's against only one player who limped.
Worse still, your plan is "if I hit on the flop I can take the pot down". How is this going to be profitable?

Another major concern is that you didn't mention how deep the stacks are in the various situations, or how close to the money we are. This is going to change answers dramatically. Obviously you should be incredibly passive from the SB in the early stages and very aggressive (when folded to) in the later stages.