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Mental time travel can make us better people
- elteto 4y agoThis is an anti-procrastination technique that I use (that I got from somewhere but forget where). When I notice I am procrastinating on an important task I visualize my present self explaining to my future self all the consequences of my current inaction, and apologizing to future self for all he has to deal with as a consequence. This also forces my to visualize the concrete consequences of my present actions and makes it much easier to understand the negative impact I’ll have on myself. I also visualize myself doing this with other people when they are the most impacted. It’s a great technique.
- chrisweekly 4y agoYeah, Dr Ben Hardy expands on similar ideas about the benefits of connecting with your Future Self as a means to improving your outlook and increasing the chances you'll become who you want to.
- throwaway1777 4y agoOh wow, people are becoming self aware enough to think outside the present. Maybe there is still hope for society.
- jansan 4y ago[flagged]
- frou_dh 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "Please don't complain about tangential annoyances [...]"
- hellothere1337 4y agoHow can it be a tangential annoyance when he's talking about font? The literal first thing you see when you try to read the article?
- Etheryte 4y agoIt's tangential because it's not related to the content of the article in any way. This doesn't mean that there isn't a problem, it simply means that the commentary on HN is not the right place to have this discussion.
- jansan 4y agoRequest declined. I cannot enter the website if I cannot read the cookie text.
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- MarkusWandel 4y agoYes, mental time travel! I do that. The past was always so wonderful, bathed in a rosy glow of nostalgia. The present is so ho, hum. So mentally travel forward 20 years and put the present through the nostalgia filter. Oh, were times good then. We were younger, the kids were still small and cute, blah blah. All the hassle of day-to-day life will be forgotten and only rosy nostalgia will remain. Ditto, travel back 20 years and simply fill in those memories with the stuff you know happened back then too. Social embarrassments, missed sleep, stress at work, worries about the future perhaps. Oh right, the past was ordinary too.
- IYasha 4y agoHoly sugar, those hands! (0_0) Is this a fad or something? Cisco-style clip-arts are back again? On the topic: constantly thinking of the future in this cruel inhumane alien-ruled world is unbearable and made me an infoholic addict. (
- quickthrower2 4y agoThat Begin surname tripped up my parsing of that first sentence
- ideamotor 4y agoAt least for me, this can also have a negative effect. Thinking about the future sometimes makes me very anxious about things changing for the worse, for example parents dying or myself becoming sick. Those thoughts do not make me more “prosocial” as they sometimes contribute to depression, facing inward, and having a sense of a lack of control and pointlessness. This feeling was pronounced during 2020 in particular, but I’ve been doing better in 2022.
- PaulRobinson 4y agoYou might benefit from talking to somebody professional about this, but I'm also going to suggest an app that might at first make you feel quite anxious but I promise with use might make you deal with these thoughts more comfortably: https://www.wecroak.com/ https://www.wecroak.com/ It's self explanatory. I've used it every day for a few years now. It makes me feel far more centred, far less anxious, far more able to deal with the swells and dips of daily life. It has also made me face those fears about parents or myself becoming sick as an inevitability that can have a beauty to it. Ignoring it won't make it go away or any better, just all the more painful when it railroads into your life. Wish you well my friend, good luck with whatever you do, but if this approach feels overwhelming, definitely consider having a chat with somebody about it.
- Balladeer 4y agoThe book "Stolen Focus" had an interesting point on this effect that resonated with me. While mind wandering -- letting your mind explore the past and future -- can be a gift and creative boon, it can only do so in a low-stress environment. People often rate "mind wandering" as one of the least pleasant daily activities, even below chores, because, mind-wandering in a high stress environment leads to rumination, and "ruminating on negative emotions becomes torment."
- Sakos 4y agoAs somebody who's often suffered from depression, I try not to think about the future or the past. The past makes me sad and is filled with pain. The future feels like an ominous and oppressive und uncertain presence.
- comfypotato 4y agoThe changing world order aside, there’s a big difference between relevant planning and worthless fantasizing. I personally benefit the most from imagine conversations with friends with whom I want to cultivate friendships. A good conversation over coffee can be greatly bolstered by thinking about how to steer a conversation towards mutual interests beforehand.
- walleeee 4y agoFor me, it's helpful to think futures as attractors. We are their agents: futures pull themselves into being not only in blind compliance with physical law but also through us. Which will we welcome into our minds and, through this, into being?
- ranting-moth 4y agoYeah, sometimes when I'm having a shower a random thought pops up from my childhood. Brain: Remember that thing you did when you were a kid? You effing idiot. Me: Thanks, brain. I was a child back then. We've gone over this multiple times. This is not constructive. I've a meeting in 4 hours I need to prepare for and there's nothing in that memory helpful to the current situation.
- kitsunesoba 4y agoThe time in which this most often occurs for me is while lying in bed trying to fall asleep and often includes blunders as recent as 3-5 years ago. While showering is probably a close second though.
- unshavedyak 4y agoHeh, i do that about everything. It's a really big flaw of mine. I have the same response as you, trying to mitigate the thoughts.. but to no real avail.
- TheAceOfHearts 4y agoHypothesis: could you have unprocessed childhood memories which contain useful information which your subconscious required you to acknowledge? I used to experience a lot of childhood memories until they were properly processed and understood. Maybe it's not random.
- ranting-moth 4y agoI think you might be right. I think they might be affecting me more than I'm willing to consciously admit.
- dalys 4y agoI learned this from Alex Hormozi. I now have a photo of myself made with one of these make-yourself-old online apps. I printed it out and have it on my desk. I glance at it every now and then when I have a hard action to do. How would 55 year old dalys behave in this situation? What kind of person do I want to become in 20 years? Plus it freaks out my mom whenever she visits.
- wintermutestwin 4y agoI care way more about future me's judgement of present me than anyone else's.
- hbarka 4y agoWish I didn't know now what I didn't know then - Bob Seger