Time Is Not a Resource

It's often said that time is our most precious resource. It's finite, and once spent, it can't be replaced. Although these properties are inarguable, regarding time as a resource is misleading. It obscures the differences between time and "real" resources. And because time is different from "real" resources, to regard it as a resource is to risk accepting a fundamental untruth that can permeate our thinking about time, rendering many critical decisions suspect.

For example, much has been written about a practice known as time management. Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources, activities, and people to achieve organizational goals. It's possible to include times and dates in plans. But one cannot organize time, nor lead time, nor control time. Time proceeds as it always has, and as it does, it is beyond our ability to adjust or influence. We cannot manage time. All we can do is undertake activities, or not, at times of our choosing, or the choosing of others.

So time is not a resource in the sense in which physical objects, people, or space are resources. Noticing how it differs requires careful consideration. Here are six ways time differs from "real" resources. In what follows I refer to resources such as finance, space, equipment, and people as "real" resources.

We can't reallocate time from one task to another.

We can allocate "real" resources to activities, and we can make adjustments to those allocations after we've allocated them, but there are restrictions. The adjustments must not create conflicts, and there are constraints as noted by Brooks. [Brooks 1982]

But we cannot re-allocate time freely from one activity to another even if we ignore these constraints. If an activity needs more time, we cannot start it earlier if it has already begun. And we cannot finish it later unless it's underway.

Consuming "real" resources usually yields progress

Time proceeds as it always has,
and as it does, it is beyond our
ability to adjust or influence

Unless we're doing something that's out-of-plan or poorly planned, consuming "real" resources almost inevitably produces progress.

Time is different. Even when an activity is "on hold" or is in a "wait state," time is consumed. The time allocated to that activity continues to accrue even if no progress is produced — even if the activity is paused.

Completed work accrues cost

Completed work is idle investment. The cost of producing that completed work is covered by organizational financial resources, which accrue cost at an interest rate determined by the organization.

Time is different. This phenomenon has no analog for "real" resources. Suppose Person A performed work to produce Module M by Time T1. And suppose Module M won't be needed until Time T2. Typically, Person A can be released or re-assigned. Not so for what we call Time. The investment we call Module M continues to accrue cost during the interval (T2 - T1) and possibly beyond.

Time can cause some "real" resources to vanish

Some real resources have expiration dates. For example, a project manager might have agreed to allocate Person A to Task 1 for a specific time window, ending at Time T. That commitment expires at Time T even if Person A has not been asked to perform any work. The mere passage of time causes Person A's availability to vanish.

Time is different. I cannot think of a "real" resource that has the ability to cause other resources to vanish.

"Real" resources are finite and non-transferable

Allocating "real" resources to an element of a project usually renders them unavailable to other elements. And you can't transfer time from one task to another.

Time is different. Although it's true that Spending time on most elements of a project reduces the time available for the rest of the project, that isn't true of all elements. Planning is an example. Planning consumes time, but up to a point, the more time we take in planning, the greater are our chances of success. And some elements can proceed in parallel with others. Spending time on those elements doesn't reduce the time available for others.

Some "real" resources are convertible into others

Financial resources are fungible. They're mutually interchangeable one for another. We cannot convert people from one to another, but we can trade their availability in the sense that if Person A and Person B can both perform a given task, we can exchange A for B. The same is true for equipment.

Time is different. If we need more time for Task A, we can reschedule Task A. When we do, we might need to reschedule other tasks as well. But we cannot just take time from Task B and use it for Task A.

Last words

Most important, there is no "Delete" key for time. Once we have used a stretch of time, it stayes used. We cannot "undo" time in the way we can undo the use of some other resources. Time runs in one direction only.  Top  

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Footnotes

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