The Haircut I Don't Want to Get

I have to get a haircut today.

And I hate getting haircuts.

I don’t really understand why. It’s not painful. It doesn’t take very long. Nobody is asking me to do anything particularly difficult. In fact, when it’s over, I always feel better.

And yet, I put it off.

Sometimes for months.

There have been times when I’ve only gotten my hair cut twice in an entire year. I keep putting it off until my hair gets so long that I finally reach the point where I can’t stand it anymore.

Then I make the appointment.

And immediately, the preparation begins.

First, Gabriel the Rescue Dog has to go outside before I leave. Then I have to get in the car. Then I have to drive to the place where I get my hair cut.

None of those things is difficult. I take Gabriel outside every day. I drive all the time. Getting in the car is hardly an accomplishment.

But when I’m already dreading the haircut, every little step feels like one more thing I have to do.

And I think that’s part of what fascinates me about procrastination.

We often aren’t actually avoiding the thing itself. We’re avoiding the feeling associated with doing the thing.

I don’t hate having shorter hair. In fact, I like it. I don’t hate the haircut once I’m sitting in the chair. And I certainly don’t hate the way I feel when I walk out the door afterward.

I hate the anticipation.

Somehow, my brain can take something that will probably take twenty or thirty minutes and turn it into an event requiring planning, preparation, transportation and emotional fortitude.

It’s ridiculous.

And it’s not just haircuts.

How many things do we put off because they feel bigger, harder or more unpleasant than they really are?

The phone call we’ve been meaning to make.

The appointment we’ve been meaning to schedule.

The email we’ve been meaning to send.

The drawer we’ve been meaning to clean.

The little task that would probably take ten minutes if we’d just do it.

We can spend far more energy avoiding something than we would spend actually doing it.

And sometimes, I think, we make the task even harder by adding all those little steps in our heads.

I have to get ready.

I have to find my keys.

I have to drive there.

I have to deal with people.

I have to come back home.

Before we know it, we’ve turned “get a haircut” into a project.

Maybe there’s a lesson in that.

Maybe we don’t always have to figure out why we don’t want to do something. Maybe we just need to recognize that we don’t want to do it—and do it anyway.

Because here’s the funny thing about my haircut:

I already know how this story ends.

I’ll go.

I’ll sit in the chair.

I’ll get my hair cut.

I’ll drive home.

And I’ll feel better.

I’ll probably wonder why I waited so long.

And then, if history is any indication, I’ll do exactly the same thing all over again.

Because apparently, I have learned absolutely nothing from the last haircut.

But at least today, I’m going to get one.

Eventually.