From national guacamole day to national bubble wrap appreciation day (yes, that’s a thing), it seems like there exists a holiday for every random item and activity under the sun. I’m not quite sure who’s responsible for the creation of these wacky holidays, but personally I don’t mind an excuse to celebrate or bring attention to the completely random things people enjoy. I recently discovered that September 11th has been designated National Make Your Bed Day, and as a firm believer in the importance of making your bed each morning, I’m totally here for this random holiday.
“If you want to make a difference in the world, start by making your bed.” That was the premise of a commencement speech delivered by Admiral William H. McRaven at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. It has since gone viral with over 10 million views and has been referred to by some of the world’s best thought leaders. McRaven’s address struck a chord with many because of its simplistic but profound message of starting the day right and paying attention to the smallest details. You can check out this interview by NBC News with Admiral McRaven about why his message is so important — particularly for millennials, and what we can do to best leverage our strengths and ultimately overcome our fear of failure.
Furthermore, although there hasn’t been peer-reviewed research into this, making your bed may be correlated with general happiness. Hunch.com surveyed 68,000 people and found that 59 percent of its subject did not make their beds, 27 percent do, and 12 percent pay someone to do it for them. Of that group, 71 percent of bed-makers agreed that they were happy, but 62 percent of messy sheeted people considered themselves unhappy. It boils down to the fact that discipline correlates with minimized stress. A 2009 study found a direct link between clutter and stress: married women who considered their living spaces as “cluttered” also had higher cortisol levels than married women who described their homes as “restful” and “restorative.” The women who found their homes to be more “restorative” also described decreased depression, while the women who reported cluttered spaces also reported feeling depressed throughout the day.
Think of walking into a hotel room… the first thing that catches your eye is a neatly made bed that practically begs you to slide between the soft sheets. Now imagine that same hotel room, but with an unmade, rumpled bed. Would you still want to slide between those sheets? Probably not. In fact, you might think there is something wrong with the bed or even room. Did they leave the sheets on from the previous customers? Does the room have a pest problem? Did you just walk into a room that was going to have a visit from the Pest Control Experts (https://www.pestcontrolexperts.com/bed-bug-control/)? A lot of these thoughts could fly through your head if you walk into a hotel room that doesn’t have a made bed, and it could impact your stay and experience. There’s just something about a made bed that feels better at the end of a long day, partly because it makes the bed look cleaner (even if you actually haven’t changed your sheets in weeks), and partly because when a bed looks good, it also feels good. Few things match the pure pleasure of climbing into a smoothly made bed with a lightly plumped pillow after a hectic day. Click here to read more from The Spruce about the 5 reasons why you should make your bed.
This National Make Your Bed Day, take those couple of minutes in the morning to make your bed. Who knows, it just might improve your entire life!
