Perspective
Memento mori, without the cliché.
Remembering mortality is useful when it changes priority, not when it becomes aesthetic decoration.
Mortality as a filter
The point is not “life is short, therefore do everything.” It is almost the opposite. Finite time makes selection unavoidable.
A practical question
Ask: if this week were one of a limited number I had left, would this irritation deserve the amount of attention I am feeding it?
Not recklessness
Memento mori is not an argument against planning, saving or long-term commitments. It is an argument against behaving as if time had no opportunity cost.
Use it on something real.
The point is not to sound Stoic. The point is to judge more clearly and choose a better action while life is happening.