It's not only the physical sizeof the hard drive needed to store the blockchain that's causing problems. The length of time it takes to index the blockchain is getting longer as the size of the blockchain increases. That creates problems for anyone running a full wallet that needs to use it in a hurry if it takes hours, days, or weeks to index.
If you insist on running a full node then you'll have to run a full node. I don't see the problem. If it's a security issue then there are alternatives such as Trezor or other HW wallets. Or just load the private key into a client wallet on a clean device and send the remaining coins to a new cold wallet. If running a full node has to be as effortless as syncing your icloud account then Bitcoin is dead in the water.
I have never run a full node, the only knowledge I have of the experience is from posts by others here. Spider-Carnage said his computer took about 4 days to index the blockchain, and I have heard others complaining of longer durations. I have sometimes read posts by the operators of exchanges saying Bitcoin withdrawals will be delayed for hours while they reindex their Bitcoin wallet. If this problem is ignored such delays will get longer. It would be better to deal with the problem before things get any worse, and if it's possible to fix it and make running a full node as effortless as syncing your icloud account then more people will start running full nodes to help the network.
You don't have to wait for anything. Download, unpack, run. That's all.