Make Your Bed
The alarm goes off, you reach for your phone, and before your feet touch the floor you are already deep in a feed. A while later you are still in bed, a little more tired and a little more behind. If that sounds familiar, you are not lazy and you are not alone. Phones are built to be easy to pick up and hard to put down, and first thing in the morning, when you are groggy and willpower is low, that pull is at its strongest.
This page is about one simple way to break that pattern: put something small and good between waking up and scrolling. For us, that something is making your bed.
Why mornings are the hardest time to put the phone down
At night you can charge your phone across the room or tell yourself you will read a book instead. In the morning, the phone is often the first thing you touch. It is also your alarm, your weather and your calendar, so "just don't pick it up" rarely works. Once you open one app for something useful, it is a short step to the feed.
That is why so many people try to rely on willpower and end up frustrated. A better plan is to change what happens when you pick up the phone, so the apps that pull you in simply are not available yet.
Put one small task before the scroll
Making your bed is a good first task for a few reasons. It takes a couple of minutes. It gets you up and moving. And when you finish, you have already done one thing well before the day has asked anything of you. A made bed is also easy to see, which makes it easy to check.
The idea is not to be perfect. It is to give your morning a different first step, one that leaves you feeling a little more ready instead of a little more drained.
How Make Your Bed helps
Make Your Bed is an iPhone app that turns that idea into a routine you do not have to argue with yourself about.
- You pick the apps. Choose the apps that tend to swallow your mornings. They stay blocked each morning until you take a photo of your made bed.
- Websites are blocked too. When an app is blocked, its websites are blocked as well, in every browser. If you block a whole category of apps, that category's websites are blocked too. So switching from the app to Safari does not get you around it.
- You set the schedule. Pick the days that get locked and the hour the lock comes back. Weekdays only, every day, or something in between is up to you.
- Make your bed, snap a photo, and you are done. Once the app sees a made bed, your apps unlock for the rest of the day.
Your photos stay on your phone
A photo of your bedroom is personal, so we kept this simple. Your bed photo is checked on your iPhone and never uploaded. There are no ads in the app.
For the mornings that don't go to plan
Some mornings you are traveling, sick or out the door before sunrise. That is what Pillow Tokens are for. A Pillow Token is an emergency skip that opens your apps for the day without a photo. You get 2 free Pillow Tokens every month. Buying extra Pillow Tokens is optional. If you want more, you pick the price, from $1 to $50.
A few tips for a calmer morning
- Start with the apps that cost you the most time. You do not need to block everything. Begin with the two or three apps you open on autopilot.
- Set the lock for the hours that matter. If your hardest stretch is the first hour after waking, schedule around that.
- Keep the bar low. A made bed does not need hospital corners. Pull up the covers, set the pillows at the top and take the photo.
- Notice how the morning feels. Pay attention to the days you start with your bed instead of your feed. That feeling is the reason to keep going.
What it costs
Make Your Bed is $14.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Both plans start with a 2-week free trial, so you can see how your mornings feel before you pay anything.
Frequently asked questions
How can I stop doom scrolling as soon as I wake up?
Put one small task between waking up and opening your apps. Make Your Bed keeps the apps you choose blocked each morning until you take a photo of your made bed.
Can I still get to blocked apps through a web browser?
No. When an app is blocked, its websites are blocked too, in every browser. If you block a whole category of apps, that category's websites are blocked as well.
Are my bed photos uploaded anywhere?
No. Your bed photo is checked on your iPhone and never uploaded. There are no ads in the app.
What if I can't make my bed one morning?
Use a Pillow Token. It is an emergency skip that opens your apps for the day without a photo. You get 2 free Pillow Tokens every month. Buying extra Pillow Tokens is optional. If you want more, you pick the price, from $1 to $50.
Which phones does Make Your Bed work on?
Make Your Bed is for iPhone only and requires iOS 17 or later. It is coming soon to the App Store.
Coming soon to the App Store
Make Your Bed is coming soon to the App Store for iPhone (iOS 17 or later). Plans are $14.99 a month or $79.99 a year, and both start with a 2-week free trial. Questions in the meantime? Write to us at hello@makeyourbed.io.