Why Getting Dressed Every Day is Important—Especially For Moms!

Getting out of your pajamas and into clothes you feel good in will help you feel better and be more productive.

I know I’m not the only mom out there who stays in her pajamas all day sometimes. It’s super easy to do when you are a stay-at-home-mom and you don’t have to be anywhere. Why bother getting dressed, right?

Wrong.

I love clothes and fashion and dressing up, so I’m not exactly sure why I don’t get dressed on the days I stay home all day—but I think it has to do with my desire to be more productive. I don’t want to waste the time it takes to get ready when I could be working on my to-do list.

It's so easy to stay in your pajamas or yoga pants all day when you are a SAHM. But could you be missing out on higher productivity and feeling better about yourself by taking the time to get dressed and ready every day? Yes, you could! Try it!

But guess what? Getting yourself dressed is exactly like making your bed. It will take a little longer than the two minutes it takes to get the bed made, because getting dressed also includes doing your hair and putting at least a little bit of make-up on if you wear it. But your productivity will go way up because you took the time to get dressed.

I started noticing this difference when I worked 3-4 days a week (I recently quit my job to stay home with my teenagers). On the days I went to work, I obviously got dressed up nicely, but on my days off I usually stayed in my pajamas or my workout clothes all day. I started to notice that I got more done in the afternoons after work than I did in the entire day home on my day off. I also noticed I was less grumpy, and even though I was actually more physically exhausted on the days I worked, I still felt more tired on the days I didn’t.

What on earth was going on here?

I wasn’t getting dressed, that’s what.

Let’s take a look at the first three reasons to make your bed from yesterday’s post. They correlate perfectly with getting yourself dressed!

How Getting Dressed Every Day Improves Your Life

1. It removes the temptation to get back in bed

I don’t know about you, but I am so much more likely to feel okay with climbing in bed when I’m wearing my pajamas than I would if I were wearing nice clothes. Or even just jeans and a t-shirt!

2. It gets you up and moving

Yep. Getting dressed forces you to at least go to the closet and change, plus heading over to the bathroom to get your hair and make-up done.

3. It increases your productivity levels

I feel less lazy and slow when I am fully dressed. Because I recently quit my job, I have had way more pajama days than I like to admit, and it makes me feel blah. And when I feel blah, I am not very productive.

My husband and I have actually taken to getting ready for the day and walking over to the library to get work done—I work on this website and he studies scores for upcoming concerts. Obviously, I have to get dressed if I am going to the library!

The thing I am noticing is that when I come home from the library I am still more productive. Because I got dressed that day. Or maybe it’s because productivity begets productivity, but I really think the act of getting dressed is the spark that gets it going (along with making your bed, of course).

4. You feel better about yourself

This isn’t one of the making your bed points, but I think this might be one of the more important reasons to get dressed each morning. When I am going around my house in yoga pants and a dirty t-shirt, a messy pony tail, and no make-up, I don’t feel very great. I’m sure there are lots of reasons why, but it’s the reality of the situation.

Moms should be feeling good about themselves—that’s also an important reality. When we do, we tend to treat others more kindly and stay more calm in the face of adversity. Getting dressed every day will ultimately help you to parent your children better and more calmly. It might even help you to take your job as a mother more seriously!

Choosing the right clothes is also important. You want them to fit well and to reflect who YOU are. A few years ago I discovered Dressing Your Truth. It changed the way I think about clothes and the way I dress, but it also changed my life in the process.

I may still be working on getting dressed when I’m staying home all day, but when I DO get dressed it’s in clothes that reflect my own truth. I feel really good in them, and it matters.

Now, I have a challenge for you!

If you are one of those moms who stays in pjs or yoga pants every day, I challenge you to get up and get yourself dressed nicely every day for the next 7 days. I do not mean you have to dress to the nines or wear a dress and heels or anything, but wear clothes that you find cute and comfortable.

Take note of how you feel and take note of your productivity levels. When the 7 days is up, I’d love for you to email me at [email protected] and tell me what you learned!

Small Habit: Get dressed every day
Big Difference: More productivity, higher self worth, feel better

This post is part of a Small Habits That Will Make a Big Difference 30 day challenge. To see all of the posts in this series, click here. Or, join the challenge and receive a daily email with a new small habit that can affect your life in a big way.