Decor8 blogger Holly Becker doesn’t start her day without setting her hair in hot curlers (she is so my new idol) and applying some makeup (her current favorite: plum tones). French women won’t even open the door to the meter man if they aren’t put together. And Penelope Trunk believes a girl can’t be taken seriously unless she has proper makeup on.

Goal: Make like The Bloggess and try full-on personal grooming in the a.m.

Though I would truly love to be one of these women, I simply have not internalized the idea that a full-on morning beauty ritual will affect the outcome of my day.

My mornings are a whirl of lunchbox packing, little-girl dressing, coat (and hat and mitten) finding, and coffee drinking. Since I don’t have to dress for anyone but the parents I see at school drop-off and I’m already busy enough, I don’t worry much about my uniform: jeans and a ponytail.

And that’s the benefit of being a freelancer, right? You’re the boss. If you want to spend your day in fuzzy bedroom slippers, you’re entirely free to.

Mind you, I’m not working in my pajamas or anything. Right this moment, I’m completely dressed and my hair is brushed. But I think I may have a little spaghetti sauce on my sweater, and I’m noticeably sans lip gloss.

And I know this about myself: I have a tendency to forget about how I look when my head is fully engaged in freelance work. Before I was married, a roommate once had to stop me from dashing out of the apartment for lunch, wearing an ensemble that bordered on bag-lady chic. “Seriously, you can’t go out like that,” she said, god love her.

I wonder, would I be more successful if I curled my eyelashes before sitting down at the computer each morning?

For the rest of this week, an unscientific experiment: What tangible and intangible benefits might a freelance girl derive from stepping up her morning grooming habits?