Your one non-renewable resource

Your one non-renewable resource

For any project, the three primary resources are time, money, and people. And with any project (and in life itself) the only resource that is non-renewable is time. You can always find more money and you can always add more people, but you can never recover time spent on a project. (Yes, you can add time to a project, but that just means the project finishes later; you haven't actually renewed time.)

Why does this matter? Because time is non-renewable, you should guard it very jealously. Not only your own time but anyone else working on the project. That means only "using" someone's time when you absolutely have to.

For example, are you having a meeting to discuss the project? Will the meeting involve only sharing of information or will it involve decision-making also? If it's only information sharing, more often than not the information can be shared by memo/email. Don't get ten people in a Zoom meeting for half an hour just to talk. That's time lost forever.

And should a decision come down to adding more time or adding more expense, always choose the latter. You can always find more money (renewable) but you can't renew time.

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you

May 20, 2026

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you I’ve been working […]

Using AI beyond content generation

May 13, 2026

Using AI beyond content generation Recent surveys by ASAE and others suggest nearly 90% of associations […]

If you’re training, PLEASE do this…

May 6, 2026

If you’re training, PLEASE do this… If you’re doing any kind of software training, or […]

Don’t confuse motion with improvement

April 29, 2026

Don’t confuse motion with improvement I wrote recently how action can produce information. But an […]

Perfection is expensive (in fact, it’s not possible!)

April 22, 2026

Perfection is expensive (in fact, it’s not possible!) “Perfection is expensive. The last 5 percent […]

AI is a journey, not a destination

April 15, 2026

AI is a journey, not a destination Lately I’ve noticed a lot of associations talking […]

Action produces information

April 8, 2026

Action produces information “Action produces information. If you’re unsure of what to do, just do […]

Why a single source of truth is so beneficial…

March 25, 2026

Why a single source of truth is so beneficial… The holy grail of data management is […]

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

March 18, 2026

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should I’ve worked in and with associations for well […]

Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful

March 4, 2026

Data doesn’t need to be perfect to be useful “Your data doesn’t have to be […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top