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> 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 t

> 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. It bothers me when people present anecdata like this. I don't have a problem with people feeling this way. But it's a huge leap of logic to say that this phenomenon is generalizable, especially since there absolutely are counterexamples. I, for one, have never felt this way after making my bed.

wallflower 10y ago
As someone who is not a morning person and who is experimenting with daily habits like the above, I'd like to give you my thoughts on this. One of the things that Charles Duhigg writes about in the "Power of Habit" is reducing the barriers to action. One of the examples he gives is starting a running program. The best thing that you can do is to reduce the barriers to action for yourself by putting your running shoes and socks by the door. By preparing yourself for action, all you have to do is act (e.g. lace up and go out the door). If you have to find your socks or shoes in the fog of your morning waking up, that is a barrier to action that might even be enough to make you stay in bed. Making the bed in the morning is a symbolic action. I believe it mentally separates you from the 'sleep' part of your day to the 'wake' part of your day. By choosing to make the bed, you are choosing to take action on something that, honestly, isn't that important. Once you start your morning, you can add other habits (reading a good book, meditating, drinking coffee, playing with your kids, walking your dog). Note that I didn't say these or good or bad habits - but something that you would like to do. In fact, some life coaches argue that perhaps the goal is to extend your morning routine such that it takes up most of your morning and extends into the afternoon. There is a famous demonstration that involves a glass jar, sand, large rocks (not so large that they wouldn't fit into the jar), smaller rocks, and gravel. When you pour the sand in first, it is near impossible to smash in the rocks and even some of the gravel. The counter demonstration is that when you put the rocks in, then the smaller rocks, and then the gravel, you can pour the sand in and it fits between the voids. This is an analogy for making time for the important actions in your day. The ones that you want to do. The practical theory is that by doing what is good for you right away, you won't procrastinate all day (e.g. reading Hacker News) and do something relatively more useful like physical exercise or meditation or coffee with a good friend.
Mz 10y ago
Humorously, I am probably never going to actually own an actual bed again. So, making the bed is probably never going to be a part of my life. I work remotely. I see very little of this as relevant to me.
wott 10y ago
Even if a few of this kind of tricks sometimes work, my experience is that their effect vanishes after a few days and you're back to square one. I guess it is because they are just tricks: your mind (well, mine, at least) can only be abused or abuse itself so long, and then it detects the trickery.

wallflower 10y ago

As someone who is not a morning person and who is experimenting with daily habits like the above, I'd like to give you my thoughts on this. One of the things that Charles Duhigg writes about in the "Power of Habit" is reducing the barriers to action. One of the examples he gives is starting a running program. The best thing that you can do is to reduce the barriers to action for yourself by putting your running shoes and socks by the door. By preparing yourself for action, all you have to do is act (e.g. lace up and go out the door). If you have to find your socks or shoes in the fog of your morning waking up, that is a barrier to action that might even be enough to make you stay in bed. Making the bed in the morning is a symbolic action. I believe it mentally separates you from the 'sleep' part of your day to the 'wake' part of your day. By choosing to make the bed, you are choosing to take action on something that, honestly, isn't that important. Once you start your morning, you can add other habits (reading a good book, meditating, drinking coffee, playing with your kids, walking your dog). Note that I didn't say these or good or bad habits - but something that you would like to do. In fact, some life coaches argue that perhaps the goal is to extend your morning routine such that it takes up most of your morning and extends into the afternoon. There is a famous demonstration that involves a glass jar, sand, large rocks (not so large that they wouldn't fit into the jar), smaller rocks, and gravel. When you pour the sand in first, it is near impossible to smash in the rocks and even some of the gravel. The counter demonstration is that when you put the rocks in, then the smaller rocks, and then the gravel, you can pour the sand in and it fits between the voids. This is an analogy for making time for the important actions in your day. The ones that you want to do. The practical theory is that by doing what is good for you right away, you won't procrastinate all day (e.g. reading Hacker News) and do something relatively more useful like physical exercise or meditation or coffee with a good friend.

Mz 10y ago

Humorously, I am probably never going to actually own an actual bed again. So, making the bed is probably never going to be a part of my life. I work remotely. I see very little of this as relevant to me.

wott 10y ago

Even if a few of this kind of tricks sometimes work, my experience is that their effect vanishes after a few days and you're back to square one. I guess it is because they are just tricks: your mind (well, mine, at least) can only be abused or abuse itself so long, and then it detects the trickery.