Trimming Time

With the advent of a New Year, it is always a good idea to make changes on the inside such as:

#1. Do not get sucked into the vortex of the internet every stinkin’ day in 2012! Waste less time for God’s sake!

This year I decided to make a change on the outside too. I rekindled my interest in The Secret. Do you remember that best-selling book based on the power of positive thinking about some of the greatest people who lived and their accomplishments? Well, I hadn’t given it much thought since I started writing last spring. One of the book’s most important points is to live your life as if you have already attained your goal. “Hmm,” I thought, “How would I live my life differently if my book is published?” If it sells well, I could find myself going to book signings. I certainly wouldn’t want to go around looking like a triangle-headed mop-haired woman. So, I cut it off. Not just a trim. A whack. Not quite a buzz cut, but short!

Whoa! That was a huge change. I hadn’t predicted how much time that would save me. BONUS!

#1. No more hair ties! I no longer have to hunt around for them before playing sports or when having a bad hair day (which was nearly every day). For those of you with short hair, rubber bands disappear like a sock in the wash. I don’t know if my dog eats them or them or they spontaneously combust. Maybe they vaporize in our dry Colorado air! That must save me at least a minute per day.

#2. No more dreadlocks! One would begin forming at the nap of my neck as my long hair rubbed against the back of my hoody, sweater, turtleneck or scarf. It always happened when I skied and then I would have to spend about 10 minutes trying to untangle it. Sometimes I would give up and cut it off!

#3. No more flipping my hair out of clothing! What’s that? Whenever I put on a shirt, sweater or jacket I would do the hair flip to slip it out. Ha! Old habits die hard and after three weeks I still find myself flipping it, but nothing is there! This is just plain embarrassing and not really a time waster since it only takes a second or two.

#4. No more getting my hair pulled! I have snagged it on buttons, zippers and occasionally my husband Danny would roll over on it in bed! OUCH! Talk about a waste of time!

#5. No more long showers! It takes less time to shampoo, condition and rinse and I use a lot less. That saves me at least 3 minutes.

#6. No more heavy artillery to style it! To tame my wild hair I used a blow dryer, hot rollers  and a straightener. All that work took at least 20 minutes. Now I just wash it, throw in some gel and go!

#7. No more straggly wragglies! All the damaged hair was cut off so I don’t need to treat the ends anymore.

#8. No more tangles! There is no need to brush it since it is so short-cropped. That saves at least another minute per day.

#9. No more hiding under a hat! When we go to a humid climate, I won’t have to wear one in every picture. My hair would actually get so big it could provide shade for a family of five.

#10. No one recognizes me! Another bonus! I can get away with all kinds of stealth behavior since it takes about 3 full minutes before my friends realize it’s me.

Now when I look in the mirror I smile back instead of shuddering then sprinting back up upstairs to fix my hair.

Hey! Wait a minute. After estimating how much effort it took to manage my long hair in one year, I had to sit down. The grand total = 486,450 seconds or 81,075 minutes or 135 hours! 

Now I won’t feel guilty when I am sucked into the vortex of the internet in 2012! 

If I would just finish writing my book…

What are your time sucking habits?

If you find extra time, how do you use it?

All photos by S. and C. Lindau