Have you tried buns? If you look around the net there are quite a few sites aimed at long-hairs that have galleries and articles filled with instructions on how to make simple, quick, elegant, secure buns that look great for a whole day. (
www.longhaircommunity.com is one such). Speaking as one of the frequently self-loading freight, I would guess that shorter hair would actually be a lot more effort to manage - you may be sick of ponytails (and I can't blame you), but with shorter hair if you want to get it out of your face you don't even have that option, and whereas with long hair I can braid it in two minutes or wrap it around my fingers and secure it with some nice-looking "hair toy" or barrette in even less time than that, short hair requires a lot of maintenance - styling, trimming, etc. (Plus, if you *do* happen to like long hair, buns protect it very well, so it will stay in better condition.)
Just a thought. (I'll have you know I stopped lurking and registered to say all that, that's how distressed I am by the thought of hair cuts!)
wg