Balanced Life -- Make Your Bed

I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday's post will help you think about your own happiness project.

I've written about the resolution to Make your bed before, and I'm bringing it up again. Why? To my astonishment, when I've asked people what happiness-project resolution has made a big difference in their happiness, many people cite the modest "Make your bed."

Happiness is a lofty aim, and making your bed is such a prosaic activity. Why does it boost happiness so effectively?

From my own experience, and what people have told me, I think there are two reasons.

First, making your bed is a step that's quick and easy, yet makes a big difference. Everything looks neater. It's easier to find your shoes. Your bedroom is a more peaceful environment. For most people, outer order contributes to inner calm.

Second, sticking to any resolution - no matter what it is - brings satisfaction. You've decided to make some change, and you've stuck to it. Because making my bed is one of the first things I do in the morning, I start the day feeling efficient, productive, and disciplined.

(Now, some people say that, to the contrary, they revel in not making their beds. One of my Secrets of Adulthood is The opposite of a great truth is also true, and for some people, a useful resolution might be "Don't make your bed." One person wrote to me, "My mother was so rigid about keeping the house tidy when I was a child that now I get a huge satisfaction from not making my bed, not hanging up my coat, etc. It makes me feel free." Some people thrive on a little chaos. Everyone's happiness project is different.)

True, making your bed is a small gesture - but that's one reason that it's a good resolution. Sometimes the steps toward happiness seem insurmountable. Getting a job in a brutal work market, dealing with a troubled child, living with chronic pain - there are no easy solutions to these happiness challenges.

Especially if you're feeling overwhelmed, picking one little task to improve your situation, and doing it regularly, can help you regain a sense of self-mastery. Making your bed is a good place to start, and tackling one easy daily step is a good way to energize yourself for tougher situations.

What about you? Does making your bed - or not making your bed - contribute in a small way to your happiness? Or have you found other manageable resolutions that have brought more happiness than you would've expected?

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Comments

[hapkidokid]

Just a quick note, yes i started doing this tip based on your blog. While i don't know about necessarily being "happy" now, i now consider this a must. When I walk in my room now and the bed is not made, i see extra clutter that's too easily avoided. Hmm, so maybe it does make me happier! lol

[PFelcher]

They say making the bed is the first step out of depression in that it's a small means of taking control. I know a woman who is so all about the order you describe that when her husband uses the bathroom in the middle of the night, he comes back to a made bed. I guess there is control and there is CONTROL.

[MerrieWay]

Yep, always make the bed first. How about clutter - too many clothes, stacks of papers that never seem to disappear. One pile is done, the next is mounting. Whew!

[SaltySaltillo]

As a lifetime non-bed-maker who married a habitual bed maker 13 ears ago, I confess,..­. she has won me over. It is a tiny little thing that makes a major difference in the frame through which we sort the rest of the day.

[ConfuciusSay-]

I'll give this one a try tomorrow.

[DMcG]

I agree that making the bed takes little effort for a big return. Another suggestion that I learned from Flylady, Marla Cilley flylady.nett) is to shine your sink. Keeping the kitchen sink clean and shining is a great morale booster when everything around you is cluttered and chaotic.

[Gnrshrtd]

I like your second reason best. Starting the day with a simple accomplishment does seem to make a difference in the day (absent an unforeseen tragedy, of course).

My habit, hammered into me by the monks at boarding school, is to turn back the blankets, give them some time to air (they stay fresh longer that way), then tidy up after my shower or first cup of coffee. Still, the deed gets accomplished and I feel more ready to face the day.

Thanks for the reminder. It's all too easy to forget why we do the things we do, and they are often for a good reason and something to feel grateful for.

[KristinNoelle]

I totally agree. If I'm really stressed out, being in a messy environment makes it 10 times worse. Sometimes, at the end of a bad day, I'll even change my bed sheets and make my bed before I go to sleep. I just feel better lying on smooth, orderly sheets. Not, sure why, but if it only takes five minutes and it makes me feel better, why not?

[hanatian]

My favorite tip from you was "Read the Instructions". I can't tell you how much easier my life is since I adopted this idea.

This Christmas I got a new digital camera. Instead of doing my usual show me how it works routine, I read the instructions and figured it out for myself! I had a great sense of accomplishment.

As for the bed, thanks for the nudge. I'm on my way to make it.

[Vikz Richards]

Making my bed always makes me happy. I suppose its something to do with the sense that you are creating order out of disorder. Ofcourse, I like it better when someone alse makes it for me:)