Planning

[chaotic neutral observer]

When the water rises to your chest, the "two-week rule" comes into effect.  You don't make any plans beyond two weeks.  You think you can hold out that long, but you're not sure what's going to happen after that.  There's no point in starting anything you won't be around to finish.

When the water is up to your neck, the very idea of plans becomes meaningless.  If you could think about it, you might say you're living by a "two-day rule", but even that seems like a stretch.

When the water drains a bit, you start making plans again, thinking about what you want to do, now that you're not in immediate danger of drowning.

This is a mistake.  You shouldn't be making plans.  Plans are the enemy.  Skip the planning, and go straight to action.

If you leave plans in your head for any length of time, they'll twist into hideous shapes, grow teeth, and graw on whatever they can find.  You don't need that kind of stress, you've already got enough.

I'm not saying that if you think about taking a road-trip, you should immediately jump in the car and race off to Canmore, to see if that Chinese restaurant you liked still exists.  Instead, book vacation time, and get an oil-change.  Start the sequence.  No-planning doesn't mean no-preparation, but it does mean you need to take a first step, instead of sitting on your couch and marinating in plan-apple juice.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I really like this! I think it's got more to go.

To make sure I'm picking up what you're putting down, this is related to mental health crisis, where the worse shit gets the shorter your window of the possible future gets, right? So there's no meaningful difference between three weeks and five years or forever when you're at the two week rule, but it can get worse.

[chaotic neutral observer]

Yes, that's the gist of it.  At a certain level of depression, you're thinking "I don't think I'm going to kill myself today, or tomorrow, but two weeks is a long way off.  There's no point in starting anything long-term."  When it gets worse, you can barely conceive of long-term being a thing.

But when (if) the wall disappears, and the horizon opens, it's important not to stand there and enjoy the view.  Start moving.

I'm saying this to myself as much as to anyone else.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Ok, so more of a practical thing than a literal description of your perception of future time. My time sense is literally that weird when my shit's acting up.