How Are You Screwing Over Your Future Self Today?

“We are really quite awful to our ‘future selves,’ according to a report [some psychologist who studies procrastination] and a colleague just published in the journal Social and Personality Psychology Compass. Our weird minds create a disconnect between our ‘current self’ and our ‘future self’ — it’s like we imagine the latter to be a separate person, unrelated to our actual, current self. [The guy whose actual job is studying why we’re like, ‘Oh man, I do not want to do that now, I’m gonna put it off until I absolutely have to do it, and even them I’m gonna hem and haw about it’] says we could cut down on procrastination ‘if we could just start to imagine “future self” as “self.” If I can start to think of “future self” a little bit more kindly, I can start getting more things done,’ he says.
 — Here’s what I find helpful: think of your current self as the future self that your past self was once all, “Fuck that, it’s not gonna be my problem” about. That selfish sonofabitch put you in the place where you are now. While that self was out having all the fun, you’re stuck with all the consequences. Is there any way to get revenge? Only by passing it along to the next guy, who, sure, is in fact you, but by that point the you that’s you now will be long gone, just like the guy who fucked you over in the first place. Why not let it be someone else’s problem? Also, who knows, you could magically die tomorrow, and then everything’s solved. At least that’s the way I think when I need comforting.