Be Happier: Make Your Bed
Making the bed in the morning: the task every child dreads, and which every parent equally dreads pestering them about. But besides the appearance of organization and neatness, is there any point to making your bed in the morning?
“of the 27% of respondents who reported making their bed each morning, 71% considered themselves “happy,” while only 38% of non-bed makers considered themselves “happy.””
It turns out that building a habit of making the bed can have tangible benefits for your health – Psychology Today reports a survey of 68,000 people, which found that of the 27% of respondents who reported making their bed each morning, 71% considered themselves “happy,” while only 38% of non-bed makers considered themselves “happy.” And this correlation makes sense – organization has been suggested to have a positive effect on our mental states, and a 2009 study even found a direct link between home clutter and stress.
In 2014, Admiral William McRaven, speaking at the University of Texas at Austin’s 2014 commencement, said “the idea of making the bed is it’s the same sense of discipline […] the same sense that you’re going to get up and do something, but it’s an easy task to undertake […] it’s about making your bed right and walking away and going ‘I’m proud of this little task I did.’ And that is really what I think sets the tone for the rest of the day.”
So, if you hadn’t been making your bed before, give it a try: start you day off with a sense of accomplishment that sets you on a path to a neater, happier rest of the day.