“I just don’t have enough time.” “It’s not that important.” “I’m going to mess it up again anyways.” These are all reasons people give for not making their bed when they wake up in the morning. While these may be valid reasons, what if you knew that there were actual benefits to reap when you devote time to making your bed as one of your first tasks of the day? Would your willingness to form this habit change?
Some studies show that making your bed every morning has many benefits, like promoting a good night’s rest and positively affecting your mental well-being. If you are looking to adopt new, small healthy habits, making your bed is a great start.
What Are the Benefits of Making Your Bed?
Making your bed in the morning comes with many benefits. While these benefits may be eye-catching, reaping them takes dedication and consistency. It can take anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.
Once you get past the initial phase of incorporating daily bed-making into your morning routine, it becomes second nature.
Starts your day off right.
Making your bed in the morning when you wake up is a healthy habit to pick up because it gets the day started on the right path. Although making your bed is just a personal preference that only takes a few minutes, that simple accomplishment can make you feel better about the day and what it has to bring.
When you’re able to accomplish one task, even if it’s little, it gives you a more positive mindset about things.
Encourages a tidy environment.
An unmade bed may not be the best visually. This usually brings a sense of disorderliness or like things are spiraling out of control. An unkept area is usually a breeding ground for chaos, injury, or a cluttered mind.
When one area of your room is messy, it can create a domino effect of messiness. You may start leaving clothing, food, and unwashed bedding on the floor. The entire physical makeup of your room can change. When your bed is made up, it encourages you to keep the rest of your space tidy with a neat room. The visual of seeing one aspect of your room clean moves you to want to do more.
Improves your overall mood.
Many individuals are visual people—meaning what they see is what they feel. Visual people will most likely have difficulty functioning in environments that appear chaotic. A messy room brings a sense of lack of control, or things may be spiraling. You spend a third of your life sleeping in your room.
This is how the physical makeup of your environment can also impact your mood. After a long day of work, you may come home, shower, and try to relax. If most of your relaxation takes place in your room, seeing a messy bed when you get back can make your long day a bit tougher.
Keeping a tidy bed can also help you stay grounded and bring a small sense of calmness. When you are surrounded by disorganization and messiness, it can be difficult to stay focused on getting tasks completed throughout the day.
Improves your sleep quality.
Even your sleep quality can be affected when you leave your bed messy. Sleep is an important factor in your daily routine, carrying both physical and mental health benefits. But not just any sleep—restorative sleep. Throughout the day, your body and brain work endlessly to make sure that you are functioning to the best of your ability. You also may do different work, both physical and mental, that makes the body more tired. Without sleep, your body doesn’t get the necessary repair time that it needs to function properly the next day. This can lead to conditions like sleep deprivation, which have a huge impact on your overall health and well-being.
While some cases of sleep deprivation may require more than changed habits and time passing, there are some things you can do on your own to alleviate the problem of lack of rest you may have. Making your bed in the morning is a great habit to pick up that can help your sleep problem. People who get this task completed are said to have better sleep.
Researchers aren’t able to completely pinpoint how making your bed improves sleep quality, but one of the most focused reasons is comfort level. An unmade bed may feel more uncomfortable than a made bed because of uneven sheets, a blanket facing the wrong way, misplaced pillows, etc. Your brain can detect when things aren’t comfortable for you, and that can disrupt your sleep. A poll done by the National Sleep Foundation found that bed-makers were 19% more likely to receive better sleep than non-bed-makers.
Increases your productivity.
You are probably wondering how leaving a bed unmade can make you less productive. After all, a comfortable bed can make you a bit lazy when it comes to getting out of bed and getting your day started. Research shows that starting your day off with a good habit can lead to other good decisions throughout the day. This type of habit is known as a keystone habit.
Keystone habits
Keystone habits are great for anyone of any age to pick up. This is a routine or habit(s) that people partake in daily that helps them operate or function in what is considered orderly for them. For example, a high percentage of people prefer to work out in the morning before getting their day started. One of the main reasons is that exercising helps them kickstart their day. If they miss their morning workout, the remainder of their day is at risk of falling apart at any given moment.
Something like bed-making in the morning is one of the many tasks that can help you get things going when you wake up.
Gives you a sense of control.
There are times you may feel like nothing is going the way you want it to. Whether it is your job or family, there are uncontrollable factors that you may encounter daily. Fixing up your unmade bed in the morning is something that you can have complete control over the outcome. Doing something as little as this can take your mind off of the negative things and become a motivator for other good things that can occur throughout the day. The feeling of discouragement you may feel because other tasks weren’t accomplished can be decreased by giving you some self-confidence.
Are There Disadvantages to Making Your Bed?
While there are many useful benefits to making your bed in the morning, there are also some things that can be bigger disadvantages. It is important to know all the possible consequences that starting a new habit can bring. Some research argues that making your bed in the morning may lead to the following:
Decreased creativity
Research shows that a cluttered workspace leads to higher creative levels. This is because messiness helps some people to gain insight into different areas and breaks the boundaries of the mind. The same may be true for making your bed. Yes, messiness may make it difficult for you to think and make sound decisions, but it may be great for other qualities you are trying to achieve. People who are artists, writers, or designers may find that a messy workspace or personal environment motivates them.
One study put a group of people in a messy room and the other group in a neat room. The people in the messy room had enhanced creative thinking in comparison to the others in a neat one. Although, neat rooms were better for individuals who needed to focus.
Poor hygiene
Making your bed is easier when it is done in the morning once you wake up. This way your first keystone habit is completed and you also don’t have to worry about doing it later or forgetting it. Unfortunately, this may not be the best for some individuals. People who do not make their beds in the morning have fewer dust mites than those who do.
During sleep, many people sweat more than they know. In addition to sweating, the shedding of skin cells is added to the equation. When you fix your bed first thing in the morning, it locks in the moisture from sweating throughout the night and shedding. Moisture is the perfect environment for dust mites to exist in.
If this is the case for you, washing and/or changing your bedding often is the number one way to promote cleanliness and better hygiene in your bed.
Strenuous activity
Most beds are low to the floor to prevent the risk of falling from high heights. Many people, especially older individuals, suffer from back and joint pain. This causes mobility issues for even the smallest of tasks. Making your bed every morning may be a strenuous activity for some people because it requires constant lumbar flexion when you bend over to tuck sheets. In this case, making your bed can drastically reduce your health if you injure yourself while trying to complete this task.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, making your bed in the morning is completely up to you. There is nothing detrimental about the choice to make. While the benefits listed above may encourage you to start this new habit, be sure to understand what your body truly appreciates and wants in your daily routine. If you feel that you were making better improvements with a messy bed, feel free to switch back to being a non-bed maker.
The best way to determine if you should make your bed or not every morning is to keep a sleep journal. This journal will help you track things like rest, quality of your sleep, productivity during the day, creativity levels, and mental capacity to handle things throughout the day.
Perfecting your sleep environment is pertinent for getting quality rest and feeling refreshed the next day. While there are many habits you can take on, the BetterSleep app has different solutions that you and your family can try.
From soothing sounds to meditations and more information about things like the benefits of bedmaking, the app can help you get a good night’s rest, every night. Visit the app today to learn more.
