Thought 142: Time is our most important resource

In Engineering management, they tell you that money, materials, men and machines - the 4 M's - are supposed to be the only resources for man. To this list, I add "Time" also. Of these five, I would consider "time" as the most valuable.

Time cannot be compressed; neither can it be expanded. No one can tamper with time; you can manipulate everything else in this creation but you can’t manipulate time. Have you ever thought “what is this time”, which is so clearly beyond the capabilities of human beings to manipulate? Who created “Time”? In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna Paramaatnma says that no one created time – because He is the “Time” (Kaala) itself. Who created the Paramatma? Who can manipulate the Paramaatma?

Coming back to more mundane view of time, anything non-renewable is more valuable, compared to that, which is renewable. The non-renewable substances are always in a limited supply. Take for instance, energy from gas (petrol). It is non-renewable energy - its availability is limited. Whereas the solar energy is renewable. An unlimited amount of it is available to you. We can afford to waste a little bit of the solar energy or use it liberally, because it is a renewable energy - and an unlimited supply of which is available to us. But the supply of gas is limited - it is expected to last a couple of decades more, at the current rate of usage. Therefore, we have to be extremely careful in its usage.

Time is irreversible – which means that what is gone is gone for ever, irretrievably; a minute wasted is gone forever. Money wasted can be replaced when necessary. Machines and Man power also can be replaced when necessary. But how can you replace the minutes that have gone by? For the manager, therefore, time is the most valuable resource; it is totally non-renewable. Good managers are conscious of this fact - and use time very efficiently.

The next thought is about “It is good to focus on work but not on its result”