I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again* WHAT IS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF WORK I CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR MY FUTURE SELF?

Isn’t that the hallmark of a catchphrase, that you say it an annoying amount of times? I’ll email ask Arnold Schwarzenegger and get BOCK to you on that (haha—and props to Lindy West for that “ bock” joke).

Because while yes, it is polite and courteous to think about the person who comes after you and needs to use the space that you have theoretically just trashed (think: the kitchen counter post-lunch scrounge, the bathroom post-deshabilage/pre-shower, etc.), sometimes YOU are said person who needs to use said space. And how are you going to feel about using said space if it’s pre-trashed before YOU get to (re)trash it (and then clean it up—that’s really my point here, isn’t it)? Will you be like YAY DOING A THING HERE or will you be like SWEARS THIS, IT’S TOO GROSS TO BOTHER DOING A THING HERE and then you don’t do that [presumably personal-evolution-oriented] thing? For example, say I’m already a reluctant meal planner/cooker-type person—let’s assume that going into a grungy kitchen littered with crumbs and wrappers and such is going to further deter me from feeding myself in a “square-meal” kind of way. I might grab snacks food for my meal instead, leading to that never-quite-hungry-never-quite-full feeling that I (personally) find annoying.

Beyond housekeeping-y mores, future-self considerations can also be aspirational—how can you fix your space so you’re likely to point your creative self at it and make the things you gotta make? Like, in the space where you make the art (visual, musical, literary, etc.), if you don’t clean up when you’re done making, how will you feel when you go to make something again? Will it be easier or harder to create—i.e., SWEARS I HAVE TO CLEAN UP BEFORE I START = I DON’T START. It’s like you have to got clear the way for what WANTS to come through you.*

*I highly recommend Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic, which is all about the ins and outs of creativity and ideas coming through. It’s really good and helpful for anyone who is interested in making all kinds of arts!

Side tangent! Outside of enabling the environment to support you*, where you spend pieces of your time budget can also support your future self’s aspirations. Say you’ve started a larger project—if you spend every day doing a little something towards it, your future self is eventually going to be like GREAT JOB, YOU DID THE BIG THING, even though your experience of it on the daily is that you spent 20 minutes at a time on it. You may slog through those 20 minutes every day, but hey now is your future self stoked to have this chunk of a thing you made!?

*By which I mean CLEANING UP.

Here’s the thing, friends. I want you to set yourself up for success in having the life that is befitting of your soul!* Whether it’s cleanup at the end of a task or consciously funneling bits of time towards the outputs true to your Self, your conscious choices can enable good things for yourself—right now and in the future. You are worth it.

*Larger, horrifically detrimental structural inequities aside—talking here about small things you have control over.

Future self, I see you; I'm here for you