Making Your Bed Can It Have Mental Health Benefits For You
Making your bed is a difficult job, especially on a busy day. But it has a significant effect on your mental health. So, let’s take a look at some general opinions and studies about this topic.
Making your bed is a strenuous job, especially when you have a busy day ahead. There are two types of people: those who make their bed in the morning and those who don’t. All those people have their own set of perspectives about this.
Some make their bed even on a busy day because they want to keep everything in order, while some people consider this job as a mundane habit without even thinking about it too much.
Some say that making your bed has a positive impact on your mental health. It really has a significant effect on you without your knowledge. So, let’s take a look at some common opinions and studies about this topic.
The Chronicles on Making Your Bed
Every mother in this world has only one goal in mind when she looks at her kid’s bed – how to get them to make their bed before going out. How many times will she do your work? Making your bed might not be the happiest moment for you, but it will be a great moment for your mother to provide you comfort but is it always going to be this way?
Mr William H. McRaven, a retired 4-star Navy admiral and former chancellor of the University of Texas, has written a book called Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World. The book outlines the mental health benefits gained from making your bed. In this book, McRaven explains how making his bed changed his whole outlook on his day.
His theory is that by doing this, you have accomplished the fulfilment of work that day. The idea is that achieving the first thing at the beginning of the day itself boosts your mind to accomplish other things throughout that day.
To sleep, everyone needs a calm and peaceful environment. An unmade bed will always disturb your sleep and ruin your upcoming day. Indeed, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s bedroom poll, many participants agreed that they had a good night’s sleep when they made their bed in the morning.
Age and way of living have a significant role in determining whether you do this ritual or not. The poll also concluded that people over 40 who live with their partners (married or not) are more likely to make their beds before starting their day.
Fun fact: The Sleepopolis study shows that people who make their beds have 50 per cent more intimacy and a good sleep than those who don’t.
Advantages of Making Your Bed
Apart from the research and statistics, some report multiple mental health benefits of making your bed. By doing this daily, you can benefit from:
- A sense of accomplishment
- Peace of mind
- Getting adequate sleep
- A sense of organisation
- Improved focus
- Relaxing and relieving
- Stress reduction
Some research provides solid evidence that living in an organised and clutter-free environment will improve focus, productivity, goal-setting skills, and lower stress levels.
In essence, living in an unkempt house will result in more problems with stress, mental health, and emotional management. Some studies show that clutter hinders self-control, certain behaviours, and the processing of information.
Having a poor sleep leads to a set of more deficient health issues such as depression, stress, high blood pressure, heart disease, and in some cases, death. It will also impair your mood and ability to solve problems, think, and react quickly and innovatively.
Disadvantages of Making Your Bed
Some people will not make their beds because they think of themselves as free spirits. But why do they feel like that? It makes them believe that doing this might affect their work, creativity, and way of thinking.
Some studies show that having a messier place will positively affect creative thinking and the ability to make good choices. They were attracted to the tradition, code, and spirit of giving. This theory might also apply to making the bed.
So, it is not a flawed idea to leave your bed undone. However, as mentioned above, there are more advantages than disadvantages for the people who choose to do this. If you think that cleaning your bed will hinder your creative thinking, then you can leave it undone for that particular time.
Tips to Make This Process a Regular Habit
For some people, making a daily habit out of making your bed almost sounds like torture. There are some tips to make this process easier:
1. Do It Right Away - Don't Postpone
Try to make your bed right after you wake up. It will only take a minute or two. You may not do it because you are tired or in a hurry. If you think you will do it later, you’re probably wrong – you are likely to forget to do it.
2. Set a Reminder on Your Phone
The night before, set the alarm in your phone to remind you to make your bed in the morning.
3. Make Your Bed Along with Something that You Do Every Day
Link this process with one of your daily routine activities to do it without too much effort.
4. Simple and Substantial
Always remember that this activity is significant and straightforward, just like brushing your teeth.
Making the bed is about having an organised and neat bed and setting up a goal to do small things that give a mindful, balanced, responsible and favourable life. If you set aside a minute or two for this activity, it would provide a better result for the whole day. Even if you didn’t achieve anything, you have a feeling that you did something useful in the morning. Check out our favourite products here.