While preparing a climate and sustainability training last week, I found myself focusing on what we can’t do, what we must give up, and how uncertain the future seems. The tone felt heavy. I realised that, like many others, I had started to view sustainability as a struggle against time, rather than a hopeful journey towards something better.

Then I came across the concept of future-back thinking, also called backcasting. It changed everything. Rather than working forwards from today’s limitations, it invites us to start in a future we want—one where net-zero emissions are a reality—and look backwards to see how we got there. Suddenly, I could see a clearer, more optimistic path. Everything felt possible again.

That shift in mindset reminded me just how deeply our perception of time shapes what we believe is achievable. Why do the years feel faster as we grow older? Why do we often act as though the long-term doesn’t matter, or isn’t ours to influence? And more importantly—what would it take to reclaim our sense of the future?

The shrinking sense of time

How our brains perceive time

As we age, time feels like it speeds up. When I work, especially while abroad, the days often blend into one another. Without the usual markers of place and activities, time seems to slip past unnoticed. This sensation isn’t just poetic—it’s rooted in psychology. One explanation is the proportional theory: each passing year becomes a smaller fraction of our life, so it seems to go faster. Another theory suggests our brains are less stimulated as we grow older. When daily life becomes repetitive, fewer new memories are formed, and time appears compressed.

We also live in a world that feeds this perception. Our schedules are packed, our attention is divided, and everything is optimised for speed. Conversations are shorter, messages more fragmented, and even meals are rushed. The result? We feel like we never have enough time, and that the years are slipping away.

How society reinforces short-termism

This sense of haste doesn’t only come from within—it’s reinforced all around us. Politicians face election cycles every few years, which encourages quick wins over long-term policies. Companies chase quarterly results, making it harder to invest in sustainability or innovation with a longer payoff.

Even our personal lives are shaped by short-term goals and instant gratification. Consumerism tells us to seek the next upgrade, the faster delivery, the easier fix. And with a constant flow of news, alerts, and pressures, our minds are pulled to the now. As sociologist Hartmut Rosa puts it, modern life is marked by social acceleration—a constant speeding up that leaves us unable to pause, reflect, or plan far ahead.

Together, these forces make it harder to imagine the future—let alone act on it. When was the last time you thought about what life might be like in twenty years, not just next week?

Reclaiming the future with future-back thinking

From imagination to clarity

We often struggle to make sense of the long term because the future feels abstract and distant. Yet our brains are wired to imagine, to simulate what might come next. This is where future-back thinking becomes powerful. Instead of being anchored in today’s limitations, we begin with a vivid picture of the world we want—and trace the steps that brought us there.

Let’s imagine, it is the year 2050. This is how I would picture it. The sky is clear. The air is pure. I cycle to a local shop, where most of the produce is fresh, unprocessed, and grown nearby. I pick up vegetables for a picnic and walk to meet my neighbours. The pavement is shaded by tall trees. The street is quiet—no honking, no engines—just the sound of children playing and birdsong. It’s peaceful. It’s joyful. And it feels entirely possible.

This mental movie doesn’t just inspire—it guides. Like someone training for a local run imagining themselves crossing the finish line, we can mentally rehearse the changes we want. With repetition, that vision becomes a reference point. A future to strive for, not simply a dream.

What the brain reveals about thinking ahead

Neuroscience tells us that when we imagine the future, we activate the same brain regions we use to recall the past—particularly the default mode network. This ability, known as episodic future thinking, allows us to place ourselves in a future situation and make it feel real.

The more vivid and emotionally engaging this imagined future is, the more likely we are to believe in it. But belief alone is not enough. Repetition makes the vision familiar, something we can return to each day. It creates a form of mental practice—essential for turning belief into action. Over time, this helps build commitment, resilience, and the creativity needed to move from idea to reality.

We often believe we’re constrained by the present, but many of those constraints are perceptual. Once we give ourselves permission to start from the future, we begin to ask different questions. We focus less on what’s realistic today, and more on what might be possible tomorrow.

Conclusion

Including this small exercise in my sustainability training changed its tone. It felt more energising, more open. I’m eager to hear what my colleagues will come up with when they picture their own futures—and what paths they’ll trace to get there.

So now, I ask you to pause. Picture your own 2050. Let it be specific. Let it be bright. Then begin to wonder: what might have led you there? When did you take your first step? What small changes became lasting ones? 

It is only by making this movie familiar—something we revisit and strive for every day—that we can start to build it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. As always, you can reach me at night-thoughts@poyer.org—whether it’s criticism, a different view, or simply something to add to the conversation.

📚Further reading

If you’re curious to explore more about the ideas discussed in this post, here are a few authors and theories that shaped my thinking:

• Future-back thinking / Backcasting: A practical strategy used in sustainability and innovation planning to work backwards from a desirable future.
• Hartmut Rosa – Social Acceleration: A sociologist who describes how modern life speeds up, and what that means for long-term thinking.
• Default Mode Network: Research in neuroscience showing how we simulate the future using the same brain areas as memory.
• Hal Hershfield – Future Self Continuity: Studies how imagining our future selves improves our decision-making today.