Making the bed is a familiar cultural ritual in many of our lives, often taught by our parents. Many parents tell their children that making their bed in the morning is one of the day’s most important tasks, being associated with cleanliness, tidiness, and discipline. However, many adolescents often reject these traditional rituals of everyday chores like making the bed. Is it just because teenagers are lazy, or is it that making the bed is a waste of time? Is it beneficial to one’s life to make your bed every morning as our parents taught us, or is it not all that important?
Making your bed daily has many alleged benefits, including increased productivity, encouraged cleanliness, and the building of mental discipline and good habits. Making your bed first can help create a sense of order and accomplishment. Doing small productive tasks throughout the day crafts a goal-setting attitude and improves goal-setting skills and productivity, which is beneficial for students and/or anyone trying to improve their learning habits. Another benefit is a sense of calmness. Clutter often creates stress and anxiety, so living in a clutter-free room can improve brain function and enhance control of productivity.
Doing chores as a teenager, even ones as simple as organizing your bed sheets can seem harrowing. Many adolescents often connect or relate to embracing their laziness as a showcase of their rebellious tendencies. Skipping a simple chore while creating more material chaos in their room can represent a sense of individuality. Of course, this doesn’t refer to all teenagers. Many still contend with the ‘perfectionist’ ideals of a clean room because that is just what works for them. Everyone has their ideals of what they would like their room to look like, and for those who prefer a more laid-back aesthetic or just don’t care, skipping making the bed at least daily is preferred. To help justify those who choose not to make their bed often, this task has some downsides. Making the bed too persistently can trap moisture in the sheets, which attracts germs and bacteria into your bedding. Additionally, skipping this ritual as a part of a morning routine can save even the smallest amount of time. Time saved can be a relaxant for those unaffected by ‘clutter’ chaos. Lastly, not making the bed is not a big deal because it’s not necessarily dirty. If you are still routinely washing your sheets, then it’s still clean. The only thing you clean is the appearance of your room.
Making the bed daily is a task that is up to one’s autonomy and opinions regarding aesthetics and cleanliness. Teenagers not making their bed can seem like a source of laziness, but it’s just a representation of atypical individuality.
