Can a routine rewire your brain?

In mid October I decided to create a short list of 4 habits to do for the next 12 months and after 30 days of making my bed every morning, I have a few reflections to share.

While my bed is not all that complex, I do work from home and my workout set up is in my bedroom so it’s a room I see frequently throughout the day. While I did not put a time goal on this habit (such as the bed must be made by 9am), I do tend to get it done first thing in the morning.

5 Reflections on Making My Bed

1. A made bed does not change your life. I doubt there’s one chore or routine task that will makeover your whole world and that’s true of my bed. If you expect any one thing to be a miracle cure, you’re bound to be disappointed. 
2. Accomplishing one goal first thing in my day is a boost in my daily energy. I’ve structured my 4 daily tasks so that 75% can be done within an hour of waking up and that gives me a win in my day. If your routines require hours of dedicated work after, say, work, then it might be too much. I like to make it easy to win and get early momentum. 
3. I actually don’t care that much about the bed. I’ll still go to sleep if the covers were a mess and I don’t think a nicely made bed makes one a better person. It just means the bed has been made. 
4. I wash my sheets and pillows weekly and changing those linens makes it easier to keep the bed made. It’s a struggle when the fitted sheet has come off a corner and the pillow is smushed into a ball. Freshly washed linens makes making the bed easier. Bonus: I have fewer breakouts because if you’re not accustomed to washing your pillows all kinds of skin gunk and oils could be layering up.
5. I didn’t care about a made bed until I did. Never before in my adult like (or childhood for that matter) has a made bed been important. As I said, it’s not a moral thing or even a tidy thing, I decided I would do it for a year and then make the choice moving forward if I wanted to continue the habit. 

If you’re trying to adopt “good” habits because other people tell you it’s important or virtuous then it’s likely not going to stick. Or you’ll do the task and resent it all the while. I don’t want to live that way. 

Right not making my bed after I get up is a good way for me to get early wins and start my daily momentum, to have a clean spot to work on laundry and is nice to get into bed at night. When people come over I don’t insist they see my nicely made bed or cringe that it’s still unmade – no one else’s opinion here really matters to me.  

But it hasn’t changed my whole life and I don’t think it makes me holier or better than those with an unmade bed.