Isn't the "Secret to Happiness" Different and Personal for Everyone?

Back in 2009, author Gretchen Rubin published a humorous self-help New York Times bestseller titled The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun!

While she was examining her own life and the lives of others, in pursuit of the "secret to happiness", she said that one thing came up more than any other. Believe it or not, it was making the bed every day.

Rubin said that it might not be the most significant thing to increase your happiness, but for a lot of people "outer order usually contributes to inner calm". She really must have hit on something back then, because a lot of studies between then and now have come to the same conclusion.

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For instance?

A survey conducted by One Poll for the Sleepopolis Company found out a lot about: People who make their beds every morning:

  • They tend to be a morning person
  • Wake up without an alarm
  • Have sex 3 times per week
  • Nap for 43 minutes on average
  • Work in health or technology fields
  • Enjoy jazz music, watch “House Hunters” and romantic movies
  • Be adventurous, confident, sociable, and high-maintenance

(I'd like to preface this next section by saying that for years, I used to make my bed every morning, and then somehow my true self resurfaced - apparently!)

This same survey also discovered plenty about people who don't:

  • They tend to be night owls - (Yup, 4 AM comes fast when bedtime is 11 PM!)
  • Snooze the alarm clock in the morning - (Snoozing? No. I beat my phone into submission!)
  • Have sex 2 times per week - (No comment.)
  • Work in business or financial fields - (A-ha! Absolutely wrong!! So there!)
  • Enjoy rock music, watches “Seinfeld”, and comedy movies - (That's a "yes", a "no", and, an "of course who doesn't!")
  • Be shy, moody, curious, and sarcastic - Yes, to all.

In 2014, at the University of Texas commencement address, Retired U.S. Navy Admiral & SEAL William H. McCraven, who wrote the book - Make Your Bed: Little Things Can Change Your Life...and Maybe the World said:

Making your bed can set the tone for your entire day!

Alyse Kalish, a writer for The Muse, an online career platform, said that making her bed every day, changed her life -

...and when I’ve had a rough day, coming home to my made bed is as welcoming and reassuring as a hug

Maybe all of these incredibly accomplished, witty, and wise people are on to something. But why do I want to punch all of them right in the squash?!

Sources: Gretchen Rubin/The Happiness Project/GoodReadsBustle, YouTube, The Muse, and Sleepopolis

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