Go Make Your Bed
Photo By Katelyn Newton
Go back in your head like you are rewinding your morning on your television.
You open your eyes to the obnoxious ding! ding! of your alarm clock and probably stay in bed for a while until your feet hit the cold hardwood floor of your bedroom. You probably walked over to your bathroom and brushed your teeth, smiled at yourself in the mirror and were off to complete the next thing that your day threw out at you.
If your father is anything like mine, he would have noticed a very crucial piece of the morning missing from your routine. Did you make your bed? If the answer is no, you might want to reconsider if you’re ready to leave for work or school with your sheets all in a ball and your pillows lopsided.
My dad has emphasized the simple task of making my bed since I can remember. My little brother, only seven years old, makes his bed first thing in the morning. My whole family starts the morning off with this small accomplishment. When all the beds are made in our household, it feels like the day has finally begun. A hallway full of made beds gives the house a clean and crisp look.
If you are rushing out the door and do not have a quick minute to make your bed, that does have some benefits. Leaving your sheets untucked actually prevents you from getting dust mites stuck between your covers. Although making your bed every morning contributes to a higher probability of accumulating dust mites in your bed, that can be easily prevented by washing your sheets once a week.
It takes less than five minutes to make your bed. Think about all the meaningless tasks that you do in the morning that take about that time. If you replace scrolling through Twitter, staring at yourself in the mirror, or hitting the snooze button on your phone with the alternative of making your bed in the morning, the day is off to a productive start.
Making your bed in the morning is not necessarily the cause of happiness, but the two are correlated. According to the Elite Daily, 71 percent of people who make their beds say they are happy, while 62 percent of those who do not make their beds report being unhappy. If the first thing you can do in the morning can encourage your pursuit of happiness, why not do it?
In the age of coronavirus, people are lacking routine in their daily lives. With working from home, distance learning, and adjusting to this new normal, it is often hard to get in the habit of creating a regimented structure for yourself. Making your bed can be the first step to creating habits that lead to a more productive day.
Self-improvement tasks are constantly thrown at us by the media and our parents. Some people swear that drinking a gallon of water a day, digesting celery juice, or taking cold showers are keys to starting your day off productively. But as soon as you wake up, you can complete one accomplishment before you even get the opportunity to do anything else.
Think of all the things that you need to do throughout your day: school work, reading, and squeezing a workout in. If none of those tasks get done in the craziness of your day, at least you made your bed in the morning.
At the very end of a very long day, it is a satisfying feeling to get into your crisply made bed. There is something quite unsatisfying about rolling down the sheets of a bed that are never made after a long day of hard work. There is a sense of cleanliness to getting into a previously made bed. Making your bed is a good starting point to make your days more efficient.
On the rare occasion that I do not make my bed, I find myself to be less productive than average. There is something unsettling about attempting to get distance learning or homework done in a room with an unmade bed. Sometimes I have a sudden urge to go back to sleep or take a nap because my bed is just how I left it when I woke up.
Making my bed is a crucial part of my day. It leads to a feeling of accomplishment and productivity that makes me feel proud of myself. I encourage anyone looking to be more productive, or feel more accomplished, to make their bed when they wake up in the morning.
Ajeeth Iyer • Dec 6, 2020 at 11:09 PM
The idea of making your bed is actually quite appealing to me, and this article reaffirmed my previously held conviction that was instilled in me by my father. I feel a sense of productivity and diligence after doing my bed, and on the occasion that I happen to not do my bed (typically because I am rushing to school), I can sometimes actually see a slight decrease in my industriousness. This article is well-written, relatable, and persuasive, inspiring me and others to make their beds on a daily basis.
Keshav Sreedharan • Dec 6, 2020 at 10:28 AM
Over our time away from school, my parents noticed I never made my bed. “Why should I?” I thought. It was my bed and I didn’t care. They would remind me day in and day out about the messy bed and I would slowly tidy it up. Eventually, this became a habit and I can attest to what you wrote in your article,. It gives you more drive for the rest of the day however small the effects are. Getting in a nice bed at the end of the day is always rewarding for me. When it comes to its correlation with happiness, however, I see it slightly different. Though there is no science behind it, I think making your bed is probably a symptom of happiness. Rather than tidying up your bed making you happy, I believe being happy motivates you to tidy up your bed. If you are bogged down and worried about all kinds of things, then why would have time to make your bed?
Angie Stevens • Dec 3, 2020 at 1:40 PM
As easy as it may sound, making your bed before you start your day can act as a small and productive way to feel better. I have found that on days that I am unmotivated to get things done, beginning by making my bed boosts me to get other things done. I agree that doing online school in a room with an unmade bed doesn’t feel right.
Sierra Witte • Dec 2, 2020 at 11:32 AM
I love how something as simple as making your bed can make you feel so much happier and more productive! Thank you for sharing.
Grace Szejda • Dec 1, 2020 at 10:55 PM
I wish I could say I make my bed every morning, but unfortunately I do not. I do completely agree that when I do the small, effortless task, I do feel a lot more prepared for the day. It totally does make the day feel like it is ready to start. Even with the risk of mites I am going to begin to fix my bed each morning.