2020 New year resolution: Make the bed

A week ago, I had a revelation while speaking to my friend, Lillian. I had sleepovers for a couple of days and noticed that she’d always make her bed before leaving for work at 6am each morning.

Each morning after waking up, I would catch myself admiring her straightened sheets, turn around and hastily make mine too. 

I pointed it out to her one evening and expressed my admiration for her tidiness. It wasn’t so much about being tidy, Lillian said. She’d acquired the habit after her mom told her that making the bed is akin to accomplishing one item at the start of the day. 

It blew my mind.

There are 101 reasons why time spent straightening sheets can be better spent doing something else. It’s so trivial; no one’s watching; I don’t HAVE to do it.

Yet, if I make my bed, I’d have made a deliberate decision to overcome myself.

It’s… pretty powerful.

I used to set new year resolutions when I was a child. Like many, I soon did away with them because I did not want to be held accountable for things like getting married at 23 and having a child by 26 (I actually wrote that in 2010).

Little did I know that I would have one this year:

For 2020, and hopefully the rest of my life, my resolution is to make my bed each morning.

My 10-year-old self would laugh at such absurdity. I’d be turning 30 this year and I say it’s not about tidiness; it’s about conquering the day.

Hello 2020, here’s to a successful streak of making beds.