Time Management Tuesday: Religious Holidays As Temporal Landmarks

This is going to be a short Time Management Tuesday because I'm burned out from those three Little Men posts I just did. Plus, I'm reading The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior, which may be a little aspirational on my part.

What I want to point out is that tomorrow is the beginning of Lent. For those who observe it, it's a unit of time, which we're fond of here. According to Dai, Milkman, and Riis in The Fresh Start Effect Lent is also a temporal landmark. "One type of temporal landmark includes reference points on socially constructed and shared timetables. Examples include the beginning of an academic semester, secular and religious holidays." Okay, Lent is more of a season than a holiday, but you get where I'm going with this.

Remember temporal landmarks "...demarcate the passage of time and create numerous “fresh start” opportunities at the beginning of new cycles." People are more likely to engage in improving behaviors following temporal landmarks, like the beginning of Lent.

So if you are a Lenten person, anyway, tomorrow is your chance for a "fresh start." That will last forty days. And maybe the end of Lent is another temporal landmark. "I will write a new novel after Lent."  Or "I've been doing  X during Lent, and I will switch to Y after Lent."

If you're not a Lenten person, you can look for other religious holidays that could serve as a reference point on a socially constructed timetable.

I know. I can't believe I wrote that, either.