What’s the point of making your bed when you are soon going to get in it at night? Well, as it turns out, there are remarkable psychological benefits of making your bed.
It seems that the world is divided into two kinds of people; those who vouch for the merits of making their beds every morning and those who laugh at the first group. Because, according to them, it’s a sheer wastage of time and energy and people only make their beds out of some sort of a compulsion to do what is expected of them.
Some might also say the benefits of making your bed are confined to the aesthetics of your bedroom and nothing more. But then again, doesn’t a bunch of freshly cut roses, carefully placed in an oriental vase has the power to improve our mood and make us feel fresh after a long hard day?
It’s the same with a cleanly made bed; it gives you a sense of accomplishment and sets the tone for your entire day. And when you are ready to hit the lights, it will be a sight for sore eyes, enticing you to sink in and have a peaceful slumber.
If we haven’t yet sold you on the benefits of making your bed every day, here comes our list of 8 remarkable perks of daily bed making.
8 Psychological Benefits Of Making Your Bed
There are a number of mental health benefits of making your bed; let’s explore them one by one.
1. The Daily Ritual
When you institute bed-making as a part of your daily routine, it will become nothing short of a ritual. If you do this simple act every morning, with an intention of making one positive change in your daily life, it will create a psychological ripple effect of mindfulness by encouraging you to be more focused and positive for the rest of the day. As one of the psychological benefits of making your bed, you will be able to live every moment to the fullest.
Also Read: The Power of Focus in a Distracted World
2. A Milestone
The benefits of making your bed include experiencing a sense of accomplishment every single day. When you fluff the pillows and smooth the sheets you meet your daily milestone. Even if you don’t get much done later, you will have one accomplished task.
The momentum you set for yourself is surely one of the most significant psychological benefits of making your bed. This one milestone per day will set you up for long-term success and fuel you to pursue all your goals with enthusiasm and optimism.
3. A Good Night’s Sleep
You must be one of the lucky few if you manage to get your 8 hours every night. But do you wake up fresh and ready to take on the world? Or do you get up as tired as you were the last night? According to various studies, sleep deprivation and lack of quality sleep can affect your mood, impair your cognitive abilities, and push you towards mental health issues like depression.
Naturally, a good night’s sleep is imperative for your psychological health and if a straightened bed can send you off on a positive note in the morning, imagine how welcoming it would be when you get ready to sleep after slogging the whole day! A proper sleep environment and sleep hygiene are conducive to sound sleep. And good sleep health can make you re-energized and brimming with vitality the next morning. With a focused mind, it will be easy for you to set and meet your daily goals. So a clean and well-made bed is necessary for your psychological health.
4. A Treat To The Senses
Picture this! You are all snuggled up in your comforter, the smell of fresh sheets, and the clean and soft pillow cover rubbing against your cheek! How will that make you feel? Surely good enough to quell your fatigue and stress accumulated throughout the day. One of the psychological benefits of making your bed is feeling relaxed and comforted by engaging your senses. When you get all comfortable and enjoy the well-made bed at night, your senses of touch and smell trigger a feeling of well-being, that sends you off to a restful dreamy night.
5. Boosts Your Mood
Did you know that we spend one-third of our life either sleeping or trying to sleep? A tidy bedroom plays a strong role in our lives. It can be our sanctuary that makes us feel calm, grounded, and shielded from the worries of the world outside. A neatly made bed furthers the cause of attaining tranquility by making our bedrooms more inviting.
Also Read: How You Can Change Your Emotional Habits
6. Promotes Cleanliness
A well-made bed will inevitably encourage you to have a clean bedroom to go with it. You will start paying attention to the clutter in the bedroom or in other places of the house and mindfully take steps to promote a clean and cohesive home.
There is a wealth of information that extols how a clutter-free home does wonders to the quality of your life. Those who live in an organized and orderly setting, tend to focus better, manage their stress well, and achieve their goals more efficiently. On the other hand, people with messier homes and hoarding tendencies, are known to have a hard time managing their emotions, mental health, and executive functions.
Particularly for aging people, a tidy living space is crucial for retaining and improving brain functions. Now as you know how does making your bed affect your health, it’ll not be far-fetched to extend these theories with the psychological benefits of making your bed.
7. Increases Productivity
We have earlier touched upon the subject of how the psychological benefits of making your bed every day include a sense of accomplishment. When you are able to tick off the very first of your daily tasks, you feel good about yourself. The confidence that ensues from the rush of satisfaction you get, makes you believe that you can achieve all your goals for the day. With this positivity and enthusiasm, you take the reins of the remainder of your day.
Like a butterfly effect, the simple task of making your bed leads to a sharp incline in your daily productivity.
8. Brings Structure
For an average person, it takes around 10 weeks for a new habit to become automatic. If you consciously make your bed daily, gradually it will become a reflexive action and help you to form a routine-based morning. And as morning shows the day, gradually you will gravitate towards a more structured lifestyle. You will be surprised to know that having a routine is absolutely essential when it comes to the realms of our physical and mental health.
The psychological benefits of making your bed every day lean on a healthy schedule, and involve big returns in terms of productivity, sleep quality, and other above-mentioned points.
Psychological Benefits Of Making Your Bed: Is There A Flipside Too?
While there are so many mental health benefits of making your bed, the following constraints and studies have also been put forward by some critics of daily bed-making:
- The physical strain involved in the process can adversely affect people with back problems.
- Creative people thrive working in a messy environment, which can be extended to an unorganized bed.
- An unmade bed has a greater chance to breathe and kill off dust mites and other germs.
To Do Or Not To Do?
If you are not sure whether daily bed-making is right for your creativity, health, or hygiene, we suggest the following:
- Maintain a journal to observe and document your experiences while you try making your bed for some days. If it doesn’t work, you can switch back any time you want.
- Use disinfectant sprays on your beds and change the sheets regularly.
- Avoid and delegate the most strenuous part of the process and stick to only fluffing the pillows or pulling the covers.
Some Helpful Tips If You Struggle To Make Your Bed
Although we have mentioned several psychological benefits of making your bed, we cannot ignore the fact that mental health issues like depression, anxiety, etc., are quite debilitating and can prevent you from having a routine-based life. But the following tips can be helpful if you are trying to incorporate daily bed-making into your daily schedule:
- Do something that you enjoy while making your bed, for example listening to music
- Don’t keep it off for later; it will only become more dreadful if you procrastinate
- Share your task and responsibility with your partner/roommate/sibling
- Break the task down into smaller chunks such as pulling up the covers or folding the sheets
- Create a list and check it off every morning
You Make The Bed You Sleep In
Let’s put a positive spin on the age-old saying: you have made your bed, now lie in it! So figuratively speaking, you get to lie in the neat and clean bed every night that you have made in the morning. In other words, when you take mindful action towards the choice of making your bed daily, it pays you off in so many ways and can potentially improve the quality of your life.
Although this one habit alone cannot take away all the challenges of your life, you must not underestimate the importance of good daily habits, formed especially in the early stages of life, that can set you up for lifelong success.
Also Read: How Rest Affects Our Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Health and 5 Tips To Rest Better
After knowing all about the psychological benefits of making your bed and why you should make your bed every day, we leave it up to you to decide which way to go! But don’t forget to let us know your choice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does making your bed help with anxiety?
Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that the psychological benefits of making your bed include managing emotional distresses, such as anxiety.
Does making your bed improve your mood?
Yes, mood improvement and better emotional regulation are some of the psychological benefits of making your bed every day.
Does making your bed make you live longer?
There’s no research to suggest that, however, a clean and neat bed leads to a cleaner living space which is beneficial for the aging brain.
Is making your bed good for mental health?
Yes, there are several psychological benefits of making your bed every morning.
Do successful people make bed?
Although we don’t have any data to support that, good daily habits cultivated in your formative years can set you up for a successful life.
