Use mortality as a priority filter

Ask: if I were significantly closer to the end, would I still care about this?

Why it works

Most things people worry about or spend time on would not survive the mortality filter — they are concerns of the moment, not of the life. Applying the filter temporarily elevates the time horizon of decision-making, which is one of the most robust ways to shift toward what actually matters to a person. This is a values-clarification move: mortality illuminates values by stripping away what fails the test of finite time.

How to do it

1. When facing a decision, conflict, or worry, ask: "If I had significantly less time left, would this still matter?"
2. For things that pass the filter: act on them. For things that don’t: notice how much time you’ve been giving them.
3. Don’t apply this to genuine immediate concerns — it’s a perspective tool, not a blanket escape from responsibility.
4. Use the filter weekly rather than constantly — it works as a periodic recalibration, not a continuous background state.

Evidence

Time-horizon research shows that people closer to the end of a phase (or life) consistently prioritize meaningful relationships and experiences over status and accumulation. Laura Carstensen’s socioemotional selectivity theory documents this shift robustly. (observational)

Socioemotional selectivity effects emerge naturally as people age or face illness; deliberately inducing them through mortality awareness may not replicate the same shift in healthy young people. Terror management research suggests mortality salience can produce defensiveness rather than clarity in some contexts.

Sources

• Carstensen, Isaacowitz & Charles (1999), taking time seriously, American Psychologist

Common mistake

Applying the filter to everything constantly, which produces a nihilistic "nothing matters" feeling rather than clear priorities. Memento mori is a periodic recalibration, not a permanent frame.