We were all told as kids to make our beds in the morning and even as adults we sometimes feel a pang of guilt when we rush out of the house without making our beds. We use arguments like "I don't have time" or "I'm just going to mess it up at night, what's the point?" It's a lot more important and useful than you think.
1. The First Task of Many
You wake up early in the morning and you're probably tired because you didn't get enough sleep last night for whatever reason. Upon getting up, you head straight to the bathroom without another thought to your bed, but this is a mistake. Instead of ignoring your bed, you should take a few extra moments to make it. Making your bed becomes your first task of the day and encourages you to do more things. It also creates a good morning routine for you if you're one of those people who spends half an hour on their phone first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. Getting out of bed as soon as you can is the best way to start off your morning. Then make your bed, brush your teeth, eat a good breakfast, and finish your tasks for the day. If you don't believe me, make it a habit to make your bed for a week. Then skip a day. You'll feel off about your routine because you're skipping the first part of your day. Trust me, it's important.
2. Reminds You That Little Things in Life Matter
You know that feeling you get after traveling for hours on end, arriving at your hotel room, and seeing a perfectly made bed waiting for you? Even the crisp, fresh sheets on it make you feel relaxed after a long day. Well, you can get that same feeling at home! All you have to do is take an extra 30 seconds out of your morning and make your bed. That way, when you come home after a long day of work or school, you're greeted by a beautifully made bed. Doing this can also give you an incentive to wash your sheets more often because believe me, there's nothing like sleeping on fresh sheets after a bad day. Making your bed is also a good start to overall tidiness in your room. If you make it, you might be inclined to clean up your bedside tables to make the whole area seem cleaner and give it an inviting feel. It's not a huge sacrifice to make and it's a small thing that can make a big difference for you.
3. You Learn Better Self-Discipline
By reminding yourself to make your bed every morning, you're exercising self-discipline. This can show in other aspects of your life like doing your work as soon as possible rather than procrastinating. If you can learn to control yourself and steer away from distractions, you'd be surprised at how much your productivity can increase. A good way to practice this control is by making your bed every morning. It's simple but effective.
4. It's a Mindfulness Exercise
Often times throughout the day, we are surrounded by chaos and noise and very seldom have a moment of peace to ourselves because we feel like we don't have enough time to sit back and relax. Mindfulness exercises are simple tasks that we can do to teach ourselves to be mentally present in what we're doing. No multitasking, no wandering off and daydreaming, just being completely focused on the task at hand. In the silence of the morning, making your bed is an excellent mindfulness exercise to practice. You can take your time and be completely focused on the task at hand which helps remind you to do this in other activities like brushing your teeth, cooking, driving, or anything where you're usually multi-tasking. Mindfulness exercises help us strengthen our focus which is good for self-evaluation. That, in turn, gives us an opportunity to really think about the stressors in our lives and how to avoid them and think about what can make us happy or make our days a little easier overall.
Our parents weren't just nagging us for the fun of it, they knew what they were talking about when they told us to make our beds.
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