Tie your own hands to stop future you from derailing

Late-night you is a different animal than morning you. Night Jerry rummages the fridge, refreshes his feeds, and convinces himself the world won’t turn without his epic Insta post. Morning Jerry, groggy and late, curses every life choice. Until Jerry inventorized both selves, he never knew why some mornings were trainwrecks.

That’s why time-travelers in fiction chain themselves to the mast: to prevent a future self from diving headfirst into disaster. You can do the same. Identify one hotspot where future you always trips up—snacking at midnight, skipping yoga, splurging online. Then craft a Ulysses contract. Maybe you freeze your credit card in a block of ice or set an all-night do-not-disturb on your phone. You’re giving future you just enough friction to pause and ask, “Is this really worth it?”

Precommitments aren’t about shaming or perfection—they’re tiny guardrails that pivot you back toward your long-term goals when impulse hits. And the magic is that once you cross that initial hurdle—digging out a card or unfreezing your phone—you’ve bought just enough time to summon your rational mind. Over time, these micro-barriers become familiar signposts, guiding you toward habits that actually stick.

Find tomorrow’s worst-case impulse—late coffee binges, missed workouts, impulse buys—and choose one small barrier: lock the fridge, set a phone alarm, freeze your credit card in ice. When you hit the wall, you’ll pause, recalculate, and most likely choose a better path. That one tiny hurdle can become the lifeline your future self will celebrate. Try building your first precommitment tonight.