The Issue of Temporal Poverty

In the so-called developed world and its “getting there” counterpart (aka developing countries), there is this phenomenon I call temporal poverty, which is definitely worth your time. Puns aside, this is a fairly serious matter even if it is subtle enough to go unnoticed for years. Then one day you find yourself in an older body wondering “where did the time go?” Although there is no clear-cut answer to this question, if you find yourself in this situation you can be sure that you were a victim of temporal poverty.

This term has to do with the state of not having enough time to do things beyond those tasks of purely utilitarian value. So, anything that is not productive or contributing to your material / network wealth is not a priority and as a result underdeveloped. After all, in our day and age, anything that doesn’t translate into cash (or something that can be exchanged for cash) is not of any “real” value, right?

This may actually be the root-cause of this phenomenon that leads people to exchange as much time as they have for money or assets (which they can in turn bring about money). Although this is essential to some extent, since we live in a world where money is an important resource, it is easy to get carried away and forget that there are other things in life worth doing. Perhaps a walk in the park in a sunny autumn afternoon is not going to increase one’s bank account, while writing that cool article for your blog isn’t going to translate into some revenue, but these are worthwhile endeavors too, if they bring about a sense of fulfilment for you.

There are times when those few individuals who have it all may seem amazing and even provoke feelings of envy in others. After all, who wouldn’t want to live in that great house they have (and which they are in the process of owning)? And who wouldn’t want to travel first class, especially on a long trip? To be honest, I would, but whether I’d make the sacrifices they made to ensure that, is another story! As much as I love work, I’m not prepared to work 80-hour weeks, through long periods of time void of vacations or personal days, having no time for the people and things I care about. This fleeting concept of work-life balance is still one of my values and one that is now more relevant than ever, if you want to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor, instead of using all that cash to pay medical bills.

Of course, no one is pushing anyone to exchange this invaluable resource called time for all the great things that it can buy if you use it properly. No one is forcing you to become temporally poor, as you make those currency-related numbers rise. The moment you realize this is when you can make a choice, consciously, about how you go about using this limited resource. Because if you don’t make that choice for yourself (because you don’t dedicate time to thinking about it), someone else is going to make it for you and you can be certain that it won’t be to your advantage in the long run...