I make my bed every morning.

This morning, I realized that making my bed every morning had become a habit – specifically what I’m going to call a “feel good” habit. Something that sounds like it would be a pain or something that I “have to do” has become something I enjoy doing. There are scattered days here and there when I don’t get to it for whatever reason. But those days are few and far between. And man, I would like all the habits I’m trying to create to become feel goods.

Realizing that making my bed was a FGH, for short, my mind started wandering around, and I thought I’d examine the particulars to see what I can learn from it.

1. No pressure. That is, no unnecessary external pressure. From anyone or anything, most importantly myself. I didn’t start with a huge expectation, such as: if I make my bed, then I’ll clean the bedroom, and then the other rooms in the house, and then the whole place will sparkle and smell nice and birds will come to the window and sing us songs and rainbows! There will be rainbows! Lots of rainbows! I just thought it would look nice – I’m doing it for the sake of itself.
2.  It’s become part of my routine. Second nature. A walk in the park. A voluntary involuntary act, almost like breathing. Wake up, wash up, make bed. In fact, I’ve done it so many times, I’ve fine-tuned the process. I pay attention to the sheets symmetry; I like lifting the cover up and watching the air slowly escape as the cover sinks back down. I have a goofy process that I've refined over time. Point is, I’ve made it mine and I enjoy doing it.
3. The bed is, surprise, in my bedroom. Not a whole lot of people see my bedroom. On a regular basis, my husband and me. If others happen to see it, and it looks neat, and they pay us a complement, that's nice. And that puts a little smile on my face. But that’s not the main motivation. I’m doing it for myself.
4. If I don’t do it, it bugs me. It feels like a rock in my shoe. It’s not that I think about it all the time, but it’s like a gnat annoyingly flying around my face. In the off day that I don’t do it in the morning, I’ll find myself making my bed mid morning or early afternoon. Sometimes even at night when there’s not much point. But, if it doesn’t get done I feel bad.
5. With the bed made, the space becomes a clean canvas. For example, sometimes, my husband and/or I lay out the clothes we’re going to wear that day on the bed as we’re getting ready in the morning. Sometimes we do it, sometimes we don’t. Either way, the point is, it’s there for us if we need it. The space is now set up for other good things. Or, more generally speaking, setting up one good habit creates the space for other good habits to take hold. A positive ripple effect is created.
6. Sometimes, as I make my bed, a little part of me imagines getting into bed at night, pulling back the covers and slipping onto the crisp sheets of a nicely made bed! Visualizing future benefits allows me to enjoy the process even more.

I never thought I’d go into such length at describing my bed making habit, but there you have it folks. I think I’ve learning something about this that I will try to apply to other habits I’m working on creating. What about you?