Time capsule questions worth answering

What makes a good time capsule question?

A good question has an answer that will look different later. "What is your favorite color?" rarely changes. "What song have you played the most this month?" almost always does. Aim for questions about habits, prices, people, plans and small irritations, because those are the details memory loses first.

Keep each answer short. One or two sentences is plenty, and a short answer is more likely to be written honestly than a polished paragraph. If a question makes you stop and think for more than a minute, it is probably a good one, so leave it in and move on to the next.

Which questions capture daily life?

These are the safest starting point because anyone can answer them without effort.

• What does a normal weekday look like, hour by hour?
• What is on your phone home screen right now?
• What are you eating most weeks?
• Which three people do you message the most?
• What is the last thing you bought that you were pleased with?
• What do you pay for a coffee, a bus ride or a lunch?
• Which app do you open first in the morning?
• What are you watching or reading at the moment?
• What is your biggest daily annoyance?
• What does your desk look like? Describe it or photograph it.

Which questions look ahead?

Forward-looking questions are the ones you can grade on open day, so write each as something that will be true or false.

• Where will you be living on the open date?
• Will you still have the same job?
• Which person from your current circle will you see the most?
• What is one thing you will have learned to do?
• Which song will be on repeat?
• What will the weather be like on the day you open this?
• What will everyone be talking about?
• Which habit will you have started, and which will you have dropped?
• What is the one thing you hope has not changed?
• What do you think will annoy you less?

If a question cannot be marked right or wrong later, rewrite it until it can.

Which questions are about people and feelings?

Answer these with names and small scenes, not summaries.

• Who made you laugh most this month, and about what?
• Who are you grateful for right now?
• Whom would you like to see more of?
• What is a conversation you keep putting off?
• What is something you want to forgive yourself for?
• What are you proud of that nobody knows about?
• What are you worried about this week?
• What would you tell a friend in your situation?
• What do you wish someone would ask you?
• What is one sentence you want the future you to remember?

How many questions should I answer?

Eight to twelve for a personal capsule, five for a group. More than that and the open day turns into homework. Mix the four kinds above: a few from daily life, a few forward-looking, one or two about people, and one you are slightly afraid to answer.

In Sealday the forward-looking ones become guesses. There are 40 sentence openers in four decks, such as "The song on repeat:" or "My phone wallpaper will be...", described on the predictions page. The rest go into the letter, which you can write as a list of answers. The letters, photos and voice page covers the editor.

How should I answer, step by step?

1. Choose a date. A year ahead is a good first try.
2. Pick the questions before you start writing, so you do not circle the easy ones.
3. Answer in the order the questions come, without editing.
4. Add one photo that proves the date, such as your desk or your street.
5. Read nothing back. Seal it.
6. Put the open date in your calendar, and export a copy as described in backup and restore.

What should I do with the answers on open day?

Read them in one sitting, then mark the forward-looking ones as right, partly right or wrong. People are usually surprised by two things: how many small details they had forgotten, and how often a plain guess beat an ambitious one. The guide to scoring predictions shows a fair way to do it.

Then write the next set. A series of yearly capsules, each with the same six questions, turns into a record of change that no diary gives you.