Background The purpose of this study is to understand the role of episode simulation in influencing Junior high school students’ future time insight and subjective well-being, and to explore ways to improve their subjective well-being. Methods The study was a 2(group: episode simulation group, outcome writing group) × 2(subject type: high future time perspective group, low future time perspective group) mixed design, the subjective well-being, future time insight, achievement motivation and self-efficacy of 149 junior high school students before and after the experiment were investigated and statistically analyzed. Results The post-test scores of emotional well-being and achievement motivation in the episode simulation group were significantly higher than those in the pre-test, and the scores of future negative dimensions in the control group were significantly higher than those in the experiment group (p＜0.05), the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group on the feeling of emotional distress. Limitations No follow-up study was conducted on the subjects and only psychological experiments were taken to conduct the study. In the future, follow-up studies can be conducted in the longitudinal dimension to enrich the intervention and improve the scientific validity of the results of the study. Conclusions To some extent, episode simulation can promote junior high school students’ future time insight and subjective well-being, while writing the results is not conducive to the improvement of junior high school students’ future time insight and subjective well-being.