Time is not an infinite resource in each of our lives. We all know this. As humans, most monitor time throughout a 24-hour period with our clocks or phones. We also have paper and digital calendars to monitor the days, weeks, and months. How much we do or don’t do in that time is up to each of us.
Recently, I read about a TikTok trend called : 365 Buttons. I’m not on Tik Tok so I’ve only read about it. The TikTok user named Tamara posts under @flylikeadove and she recently posted her 2026 strategy for self-improvement. She wrote:
“I’m getting 365 buttons, one for each day, because I want to do more stuff and I’m scared of time so I want to be more conscious of it.”
She intended to start the year with all 365 buttons in one jar and move one button to a second jar each day to mark the passage of time. When I read this, I thought, oh, like an hourglass.
Apparently, people have become so digitalized in their thinking that a concept as simple as counting out the year in buttons was too confusing and difficult for many to understand. People began asking what kind of buttons…fasteners, badges, chocolate buttons? And what was she going to do with these buttons?
I understood that she was looking for a tangible reminder of how quickly time passes so she could make sure she was being mindful of her time and doing all the things she hoped to do in the new year.
But then people continued questioning her about it and she became frustrated trying to explain such a simple concept. Her response to this was:
“Hey so it actually only has to make sense to me for me to do it and I don’t feel like explaining it to anyone else.”
And there you have it.
She wanted to use 365 buttons to visually represent the passage of time in 2026 but it evolved into a life lesson about doing things your own way whether other people understood it or not.
Since Tamara created her 365 Buttons post, it has gone viral and captured the internet’s imagination. Other TicTokers and people on other platforms are now making their own interpretations of 365 Buttons and people (besides me) are writing about it. The blogging and social network platform, Tumblr, even declared 2026 the year of 365 buttons. Isn’t it amazing how a simple internet post could turn into something entirely different from what it started out to be?
Because, ultimately, what we decide to do for ourselves and with our time only needs to make sense to each of us.