Triad of Energy, Money and Time are required for health and wellbeing

We are in a race to enjoy life for the shortest possible time. There is a consistent sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) amongst everyone who wants and is extracting the maximum out of life. The media and glamour world too markets the concepts of “Living now” . However, in our relentless quest for maximum enjoyment, we often neglect the critical understanding that true well-being requires a balance of managing three essential resources i.e. energy, money and time.  When we speak of well-being, it encompasses more than just a healthy and fit body, freedom from disease, mental agility, and happiness—it also includes financial prosperity and adequate time for our disposal to live and enjoy life..

Throughout history, the adage “Health is wealth” has rung true. Take, for instance, the case of the famous wealthy man often called India’s Big Bull, who recently died of long-term ailments. He amassed immense wealth for himself and for his family too, but lamented at the end that he did not invest in his health in the same way as he invested in his wealth. On the other hand, take the case of a young man who is fit and has all the time in the world to himself but lacks employment as a source of income. Here, the absence of money poses an obstacle for him to attain a state of well-being due to his inability to buy and eat proper food and healthcare for himself and his family. Therefore, to enjoy wealth, health is essential, and to enjoy health, a certain level of wealth is also necessary.

So far, we have seen the interrelationship between health and wealth. Take another case: an upwardly mobile corporate executive who has ample wealth and is free from illnesses too, but due to a lack of time available for himself and his family, he is unable to take a regular and healthy diet, exercise, and release from workplace tensions. In this case, to enjoy his wealth and health too, the availability of adequate time is essential.

Thus, to be able to enjoy the fruits of life and attain a state of personal well-being, three resources are essential: time, money, and energy (consisting of physical, mental, and spiritual energy) in proper proportion.

Drawing inspiration from the timeless book “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason, certain principles of money management have stood the test of time. “Richest Man in Babylon,” written by George S. Clason in the early 1900s, mentions following principles:

“Money is the medium by which earthly success is measured.”

“Money makes possible the enjoyment of the best the earth affords.”

“Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws that govern its acquisition.”

So one can see that the money is governed today by the same laws that controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon six thousand years ago. As the famous ABBA band aptly put it in the ’80s, “Money, money, money; it’s so funny; it’s a rich man’s world.” In today’s materialistic landscape, money undeniably plays a pivotal role.

Apart from the roles of money and time for effectively manage our health and wellbeing, the third key resource is energy i.e. physical and psychosocial energy. Physical energy is required to carry out our body functions, both for our livelihood as well as to maintain our physical existence.  Psychosocial energy is needed to manage our psychological wellbeing and for harmonious existence as a social being in the universe.  There is close harmonious interaction, integration as well as synergy between the two types of energies, required to manage our wellbeing in an effective manner.

Physical energy is obtained by consumption of food, level of physical activity and the amount and quality of sleep etc.  The energy generated within the body by consumption of food is used by our body systems for performing actions required for our survival e.g. walking, running, reading, preparing food and producing goods etc. as well as for maintenance of basic level metabolism during rest and sleep. Our sensory organs e.g. eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin provide us on the one hand psychological pleasures of goodness of taste, nice smells, pleasure associated with physical and sexual contact and beautiful sights etc.  At the same time, they also provide cautionary signals for avoidance or escape from dangers e.g. smell of gas leakage, sighting of wild animal and sighting of high tides etc.

Psychosocial energy is derived from our education system, family and other elders, peer groups, community groups, faith and beliefs and workplace interactions etc. Stimuli from these sources, reach our brain, and higher functions in our brain assimilate them and produce responses that may be psychological or physical or a combination of both. Psychological responses include feeling of happiness, sadness, anger and anxiety etc. Such psychological responses are normal in nature to a good extent, However, when exposure to them becomes prolonged and / or in high amount, these covert to psychological stress and later to psychological illnesses e.g. depression, anxiety, phobias etc. that may require expert interventions including attention to the causative situation. In some cases, due to associated genetic factors, such signs and symptoms may take severe course and result in psychotic diseases e.g. depression, schizophrenia and bipolar psychosis etc. that affect all aspects of life and need prolonged expert intervention.

Psychological stress may also result into development of physical signs and symptoms such as acidity in stomach, breathlessness, palpitations, numbness in fingers, body aches and migraine etc. The severity and frequency of these signs and symptoms is closely related to the levels of psychological stress. Psycho means mind and somatic means body; hence such diseases are called psychosomatic diseases.  These are physical diseases that are caused by, and / or modified by psychological factors.  Examples of such diseases include Bronchial asthma, Diabetes mellitus, Peptic ulcers, Angina pectoris, Myocardial infarction and Rheumatoid arthritis etc.  Such illnesses are rapidly increasing in the world and in India too over last five decades and are now presenting as an epidemic of non-communicable diseases.

In this regard, belief that attention to physical health is the only aspect required for managing our health and wellbeing, is false. In the same way, the belief that everything is managed from the brain only and our body is a suitcase in which we carry our brain around, is also equally untrue.   Management of both physical and psychosocial energies is crucial for our health and wellbeing, as both are interconnected and influence each other.  Management of physical energy requires necessary lifestyle changes with attention to three key areas i.e. food, physical activity and sleep. These measures need to be implemented across the society and may include healthy lifestyle promotion among population groups, policies and regulations covering food and nutrition, nutrition availability and education, promotion of physical activity and sports, etc. Management of psychosocial energy requires attention to psychosocial stress at individual, family, workplace and community levels. Such measures include work life balance, gender inclusion and equity, income generation, policies against drugs and alcohol, etc., clinical care of psychosomatic diseases and promotion of appropriate spiritual values including emphasis on Yoga and meditation etc. Therefore, simultaneous multipronged actions are required on these areas at the individual, family, community and regional levels by Governments, industries, educational institutions, professional associations, non-governmental and community-based organizations, communities, families and by individuals themselves.

Among the three main resources required to adequately manage our personal health and well-being, time management is a critical one, apart from energy and money. Time is the only resource among the three that is available equally to everyone, whether he or she is the President of India or an agricultural labor toiling in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh. Hence, its effective management becomes critical for our health and well-being.
For the proper functioning of our body systems, role of time is critical. Among these roles, first is the day and night differentiation. Human being is not nocturnal like wild animals such as tiger, lion and bats etc. that are awake and active during night and hence their body systems e.g. night vision, alertness are most active during the night. For human beings, night is a time for rest and regeneration of body organs. Hence, our metabolic rate and body systems are at a relative state of resting during nighttime. Hence, adequate amount of sleep is essential for maintaining body functions.
Interference with this diurnal difference in our body functioning for example by working in night shifts is a universal practice that has evolved over a period of time since industrial revolution so as to maintain continuous production cycles in industrial plants. In addition, globalization has further promoted night work in service sectors e.g. IT, Finance, travel and logistics etc. too. In daily life too, excessive indulging in the use of mobile or computer screens during night-time, depriving ourselves of adequate sleep-time is another health and social risk, specially for adolescents and young adults.
This requirement of remaining awake and working throughout the night has its adverse impacts on our body functioning, mainly on adequacy and quality of sleep, digestion, mental alertness and reproductive functions etc. along with an increased tendency for errors and workplace accidents.

At community level too, working in community areas during night hours poses serious personal safety and security risks such as robberies, road accidents, sexual violence and illicit drug and arms trafficking etc. Hence, appropriate provisions for prevention and management of adverse impacts are necessary at both communities and workplaces during night-time. These may include adequate lighting of community spaces, police patrolling, emergency medical services and road safety provisions etc. in communities. In workplaces too, adequate lighting, security services for safe transport of men and materials, emergency services for medical and other emergencies such as fire etc. need to be in place, along with an effective workplace occupational health and safety management system to prevent and manage specific work-related health and safety hazards and risks.

In addition, inadequate amount of time spent with the family members including children, spouse and parents, due to excessive time spent in work, often leads to psychosocial stress among various family members that can lead to marital disharmony or divorce, social isolation among elders and anxiety and antisocial behavioural tendencies among younger age groups.

Thus, the effective management of health and wellbeing requires awareness about all the three resources i.e. energy, finance and time and knowledge of the tools for their management, and development of favourable attitude to adopt healthy lifestyle that encompasses the three resources in proper balance. Any initiative for managing health and wellbeing, must consist of energy management i.e. physical fitness regime through diet and exercise, mental health resilience and spiritual awareness, personal finance management and basics of time management concepts.