How to shower most efficiently?

Showering is quite an important fact in life, we cannot disagree upon that and since I live alone, it has to happen economically, efficiently and ecologically; in short: to not waste too much water (and money) on a daily base.

Because I got no time concept, I can stand under my shower for ten minutes but also for an hour, depending how cold it is outside and maybe because the position of the planets with the sun, who knows?!

Basically, there is no real indicator of time in my bathroom, till it got me thinking for solutions. It didn’t only get me thinking how to shower most efficiently, but also if my showering routine was sufficient enough towards general hygiene..

First, I found this “Deep Scrub” body map which gives in detail how many minutes I will require to shower myself fast and efficiently. It shows:

• 5 major (red) spots – major scrubs.
• 5 minor (green) spots – minor scrubs.
• 1 major scrub = 45 seconds x 5 = 3,75 minutes.
• 1 minor scrub = 30 seconds x 5 = 2,50 minutes.
• Remaining body = 1.30 minutes.
• Total duration of shower = 8 minutes.

Knowing a shower has only have to happen for 8 minutes long, I’ve programmed a playlist with 2-3 songs, playing through a remote Bluetooth speaker in order to let me know:

• how much time I got left
• when to change my scrubbing routine

I mostly try to stop showering, before the last song is finished.

It only happened a few times that I was standing for much longer under a shower, when I am not have the external speaker, an indication or time or when I felt bad.

To not distract me from my scrubbing routines and keep chaos out, I got all my soap dispensed in smaller bottles, which keeps the shower also to a minimal. This prevents me to waste too much soap, when I got no time reminder, because mostly I soap myself in repetitively and those little bottles remind me consciously of my soap use..

If I really need to relax, I will mostly need about 10-15 minutes under the water, because it is all so relaxing the sound of falling water … *drip-drip-drip*

[What if I shower under an increased amount of stress?] (added 12/06/2016)

I become slower, because of the many errors I make in my “normal routines”. For example, put shampoo in my hair before making it wet, start to wash myself from the bottom up, washing certain parts twice or more, or forgetting to wash certain (private) parts, not rinsing well, not drying well, shampoo in eyes, …

[Solution Strategy]

• Problem: Standing too long under the shower, because of no time concept.
• Solutions: Put a timer, Playlist, Changed soap-bottles to small-sized.
• Decision: Playlist > Timer > Soap Bottles.