20120817

Make your bed (2)


Yesterday, I said that I "basically" make my bed. By that I mean I do that on the days I go to work. I leave my sheets in a heap during weekends or when I am on holiday.

So I cannot boast of fully meeting one of the three criteria for being successful. I do not do it with total commitment.

I have never paid any attention to my bed-making habit until I wrote these two blog entries, but that I start thinking about it, a very interesting question pops up: Why is it that I make my bed in the mornings when I am in a great rush and not in those when I have all the time in the world?

The answer, I believe, lies in one word: discipline. It is true that in the mornings of my working days, I am pressed for time because there are so many things to do - scoop the cat poop, make breakfast and eat it, take a shower, download audio files to my iPhone for listening during the commute to work, etc. But it is precisely for this reason that I have to be highly disciplined in order to complete all these things before going to work and, over the years, I have developed a routine that I follow like clockwork.

The non-working days are, as anyone can imagine, completely different, and I can be as slack and undisciplined as I like.

Yesterday, I said that I can see something in common about the characteristics of bed makers. I think it is discipline. Are disciplined people not more likely to like their job, own a home, exercise regularly and feel rested? Are they not happier and more successful as a result?

In the article I quoted yesterday, the writer concluded by saying that maybe she'll try making her bed as her mum advised.

"Maybe" is not good enough. She should make a stronger commitment.

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