This is probably not the first time that you’ve been told to “make your bed already!”, but I hope this will be the last time you’ll ever have to be told.
Let me start by describing how my normal day would usually go: sluggish.
That’s how I felt whenever I’d start my day, and sadly, how I’d usually end my day.
It’s a sad way to live, really.
I was your usual night owl who finds it terribly hard to wake up with the sun in my eyes and a smile on my face.
I was the picture of a vampire who’d been mistakenly woken up during day time. My day would usually start at 11 am and end at around, oh, say… 2 or 3 am.
That was me.
But then I turned 30.
Wham!
..and I became a mom.
Bam!
…and you’ve got yourself a slinky falling helplessly into an abyss.
Exhausted couldn’t even sum up how I felt every day. If anything was going to change, I had to change something in my routine. It had to be simple enough to do, and yet create a rippling effect throughout my day.
I decided to start with making my bed every morning.
And holy macaroni (as my daughter would say it), what a difference it made to my day. As much as I don’t like saying this word, it’s a game-changer.
So why do I now make my beds in the morning?
It jumpstarts my day.
When I make my bed first thing when I wake up (after stretching of course), I find my brain immediately shifts into working gear.
The task is menial enough that I can accomplish it with even half of my brain working, and arduous enough to get me into a productive mindset.
It instantly makes our room look clean.
This is my trick when I want to create the appearance of a clean home. The bed is a focal point in almost every bedroom; it’s the first thing that people lay their eyes on when entering the room.
If our bed is unmade or has mounds of laundry or paperwork on it, it wouldn’t matter if the rest of our room is clean, it would still look cluttered in your eyes.
It sticks out like a sore thumb. But if our bed is clean, any clutter in the background is just that – a blurred background.
I don’t worry about sudden visitors.
I feel a bit conscious about letting people in inside our master bedroom, but there are some people who just don’t have “personal space” written in their vocabulary.
And it’s mostly hard when they have something to say about you or your family based on what they’ve seen around your usually private space.
By making my bed every day, making them think I’m a failure at being a homemaker is at least one less thing I’ll have to worry about.
It leaves a good impression on my family.
Our 2 kids (5 year old and 10 month old) sleep with us, and that’s a personal choice we decided on because that’s what we both experienced growing up. Whenever I make our beds (2 king sized pushed together), I let my daughter help out. It’s fun for her and at the same time, I can instill this habit in her as she grows up.
I plan on letting his baby brother help out too as soon as he’s able to.My hubby loves coming home to a lovingly-made bed, and my kids rolling around in them.
My family will have this cozy memory to look back on, and it will always be a memory that they can recapture whenever they make their own beds.
It’s a great way to cap the day off.
I love sleeping in hotels! You know why? It’s because I get to plop into a freshly-made bed every day without having to lift a finger! Tell me you’re not looking forward to just lay there for as long as you can, letting all that coziness sink into your tired and weary body.
Oh the bliss!
We love it so much that hubby and I are actually planning to retire in one in the future (hopefully, in one that we own!).
Going back, making your bed is just a great way to end your day. After being completely drained off of your energy, the last thing you want is a messy and smelly (from not having been aired out) bed when you want to doze off like a baby. It makes coming home an enjoyable experience for everyone, and that is our goal.
I know I make it sound so easy to do, but it actually took a while before it became a habit. In the beginning, I’d keep convincing myself on why I shouldn’t have to make the bed:
“I’m too lazy!”
“I have better things to do!”
“It’s going to take a while!”
“I’ll mess it up again anyway when I nap or sleep again tonight!”
..and so on.
But I still wanted to develop the habit regardless.
Here are five tips that I found helpful to ease me into the habit of making the bed –even if I’m lazy as fudge.
No throw pillows!
Your bed is not a sofa! Unless you actually use them, I don’t see why you should have them on your bed. Because really now, is your bedroom a nurturing sanctuary? or a pretty staged set like those in the magazines?
The fewer pillows you have to deal with, the easier it will be to make your bed.
“…but it’s just throw pillows!”
Well, when you wake up in the morning, are you most likely to fix 6 pillows (with 3 decorative pillows)?
or…
just 2 oversized body pillows on the bed?
The same idea goes for stuffed toys.
Minimize throws or blankets.
Imagine having to fold three or four blankets instead of just one. Imagine not having to fold a blanket at all!
All you need is a large duvet and it practically removes the need to make the bed!
Just plop the pillows by the headboard and pull the duvet over or under.
Done!
The right size of sheets tucked in tightly.
This is one of my pet peeves. I don’t like it when the fitted sheets are not the right size and they unravel and wrap around your legs with your blankets while you sleep (no matter how tightly you’ve tucked them in).
Getting the right size of fitted sheets, and properly tucking the sides and corners under the mattress, will ensure that you wake up to a halfway-made bed.
Don’t over-think it.
If you think that you’re too lazy to make the bed, then you ARE going to be lazy making the bed.
Thinking about the effort that you would have to make as soon as you’ve woken up will keep you from doing it at all.
Instead, absent-mindlessly fix your bed as you think about your agenda for the day.
Do it quickly!
I do this because I find that it quickens my heart rate and gets me excited for my day. But this is also to remove any lingering doubts or lazy stance that could potentially ruin a great start to your morning.
The faster you get the job done, the less time you’ll have to think about whether or not you should be doing it.
If you’ve followed my tips above, you should be able to make your bed with eyes closed in a snap!
I’ve taken a different approach to my days since developing this habit of making the bed every time I wake up.
Try it for yourself and see how it changes your morning routine (or your life!).
I'm Janice, a creative INFP turned 