This Is the One Task You Must Accomplish Every Day

You’ve read about the power of setting goals, having a positive mental attitude, developing a never quit mindset, and repeating affirmations ad nauseam.

Goal setting, being positive and determined, and mantras are powerful and life-changing, but they are only mental exercises unless you apply them to your work and life. Shonda Rhimes wrote, “Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.” If you want your dreams to become reality, there is one task you must accomplish every morning. Completing this simple task will set you up for success all day.

Becoming a member of the military is a transformative experience. In basic training, the drill sergeants take a hodgepodge of young men and women from around the country and make them into a cohesive group that works together to accomplish goals. And they use seemingly innocuous tasks to do it. If you don’t know about a gig line, you will soon. Never polished a floor until you can see your reflection? Not to worry because they’ll train you. Can’t walk a straight line? In a few weeks, you’ll be marching in cadence with the other recruits in a perfect formation. You’ll have your head shaved and wear the same clothing. Your drill sergeants will wake you up and put you to bed, scream in your face, and punish you until you submit. And they will change you from a civilian into a marine, soldier, sailor, or airman.

How Scheduling 30 Minutes Each Day For Personal Development Can Change Your Life Forever

Making your bed is the first task of the day

From my first day in basic training until I moved out of the barracks, I had my bed, locker, and floor area inspected every morning. The bed’s corners had to be tight and square, the cover taught, and the pillow centered, with an extra blanket folded on the foot of the bed. Do it wrong, and I got to make it again. Once my bed passed inspection, the sergeants would check my locker then look for dust bunnies under the bed. If all went well, they moved on to the next bed and repeated the process with another troop.

Admiral William H. McRaven is a retired Navy Seal. In a commencement speech he gave to The University of Texas at Austin in 2014, he said, “If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

“And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

Making your bed will help you sleep better

The National Sleep Foundation agrees with Admiral McRaven. In their study, Bedroom Poll, they found people who make their own bed sleep better at night. They wrote, “It’s worth noting that those who make their beds every day or almost every day are more likely than those who do so less often or not at all to say they get a good night’s sleep every day or almost every day.”

Getting plenty of rest is fundamental to successful living. Sleep deprivation starves creativity and production. When I’m ready to go to bed, seeing a made bed that looks comfortable and inviting makes me ready to sleep.

Making your bed is good for mental health

If coming home to a bed you’ve made gives you “encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”, then getting up and having to make the bed isn’t all that appealing. Dr. Audrey Sherman wrote in The Link Between Disorganization, Depression, and Anxiety that “I find disorganization and chaos to be one of the biggest problems reported by depressed and anxious individuals.” She also wrote, “I really can’t tell you the number of times that I have seen clients experience great relief from their symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger just from taking control of their life routines and belongings.”

Making your bed won’t cure depression or anxiety, but it is a good first step in starting your day feeling organized and in control. Even a minor task successfully completed creates an emotion of life in balance. Knowing that you’ve completed one task can set you up for completing the next task and then the next. And after a long day, and no matter how your day has gone, coming home to a made bed feels good.

“And when I’ve had a rough day, coming home to my made bed is as welcoming and reassuring as a hug.” — Alyse Kalish, The Reason This Navy Seal Makes His Bed Will Convince You To Do The Same

Other benefits of making your bed

Sleepopolis did a survey of 2,000 Americans to see if making their bed said anything about their personality.

The information below is from their study, revealing that people who make their bed are more likely to:

Be a morning person

Wake up without an alarm

Have sex 3 times per week

Nap for 43 minutes on average

Work in health or technology fields

Enjoy jazz music, watch “House Hunters” and romantic movies

Be adventurous, confident, sociable, and high-maintenance

And people who didn’t make their bed are more like to:

Be a night person

Snooze the alarm clock in the morning

Have sex 2 times per week

Work in business or financial fields

Enjoy rock music and watch “Seinfeld” and comedy movies

Be shy, moody, curious, and sarcastic

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Making your bed first thing in the morning takes about 2 minutes, but the positive results are motivating. Getting your day started knowing you’ve already completed one task sets the tone for the rest of your day. And it can be the first in a series of successful tasks until you go home.

And, as Alyse Kalish wrote, coming home to a made bed is as “welcoming and reassuring as a hug.”

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This Is the One Task You Must Accomplish Every Day originally appeared on Medium