Why You Should Make Your Bed Every Morning

Like many, the first chore I was assigned as a kid was to make my bed every morning.

And like many, I resisted.

Why should I do that? I was just going to mess it up again that night. What was the point?

As always, though, my parents won out.

And eventually, they won me over.

I now make my bed every morning, even though my allowance no longer depends on it.

There are plenty of reasons for this:

I like the way it looks; Messiness makes me uneasy; I want to realign the sheets; A made bed is the best bed to get back into; My wife and I paid for those throw pillows, so we’re damn sure going to use them.

But the reason that most compels me to carve out time in my morning routine for it is this:

It’s a habit.

Admittedly, straightening out some sheets and pulling up a comforter isn’t much of an accomplishment.

But that doesn’t matter.

What matters is that each morning I wake up committed to a task. And each morning, I follow through on that commitment.

This is a transferable skill I can apply to all facets of my life, whether it’s at work or at home or with my writing. (Case in point: 100 Naked Words.)

The more productive habits I can build, the more productive I can be.

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This originally appeared on 100 Naked Words.