Future Me problems

Recently, I have been hearing more and more people saying something will be ‘Future Me problem’. Didn’t properly finish an assignment? Future Me problem! Left a mess? Future Me problem! Poorly planned day? Future Me problem! And I could not agree less.

be kind to your future self

There is an Italian saying that, loosely translated, means ‘a done thing has an end’, which is redundant and tautological and redundant.

I must have heard that saying so many times, during my childhood, that it got hard-wired inside my brain and now it makes perfect sense if you consider that, when you are working on a task, your mind is processing information in a chronological and logical way to get a better picture of what’s ahead and needs to be done. It may seem easy stuff on the spot but, if you’re anything like me and can’t remember what you had yesterday for dinner, how are you going to remember key information about that task you were doing the other day that most likely involved several actions to be taken?

Practical example: booking tickets for a show. After booking online on the go and receiving the confirmation e-mail with your tickets, you think ‘Cool! Got tickets, now I can forget about it.’ And that’s what you do in quite a literal way. Day of the event may stick in your memory, time of the show may be a bit off. Title of the e-mail with your tickets and specific sender or date? Good luck and have fun in your inboxes. Both the serious one and the fluff one, who knows which one you used for tickets!

Someone would say: Future Me problem.

I say: Future Me bullying!

Print those tickets now that you have the freshly received e-mail on hand and stick them in your agenda on the day of the event. Then, and only then, you can forget about it and Future You will receive a generous gift from Past You, instead of trying to keep track of the huge amount of partial information and loose threads Past You left around.

When you apply this mindset to everyday household situations, from the silly alignment of your slippers, to the most complex laundry hanging situation and supermarket haul bagging, what you are actually doing, is to make Future You life much easier.

If you’re all about improving yourself, being a Better You, and pushing your limits, why not doing something that will take care and cuddle Future You as well? Raise your own standards in a sustainable and logical way. Treat yourself like you expect to be treated.

Be strong and independent and kick Past You’s ass when it comes to beating your own records at the gym just, please, don’t make it any harder on Future You if it’s something within your 'now' power. The world is already hard on us, navigating through adulting and things we have zero control over. If you just replaced toilet paper when it’s finished, Future You will have a little less to worry about in a delicate moment of need.

Be kind to Future You.



Image: via

Comments

More from BYO Lipstick