Resources and their kinds

A resource is anything we use to carry out an activity and reach a goal or meet a need: time, energy, money, knowledge, interest, skills, materials, water, air, even a school building. Some resources can be touched (tangible, like money or a book); others cannot (intangible, like intelligence or time). One important point: something we do not use is not a resource to us. A sewing machine kept boxed in a cupboard for years is not serving anyone as a resource.

1. Human and non-human resources:

• Human resources are within a person: knowledge, motivation and interest, skills and aptitude, time and energy. They are hard to measure, and they can be developed through training: a student who joins a coding club builds a new skill.
• Time is special: everyone gets exactly 24 hours a day, rich or poor, and time once lost can never be regained.
• Non-human resources are outside a person: money (which is limited and unequally shared among people) and material goods such as space, furniture, clothes, vehicles and tools.

2. Individual and shared resources:

• Individual resources are for one person's own use: your own skills, savings, clothes, phone or school bag.
• Shared resources are used by many people: a family car, an office's shared computer drive, public transport.

3. Natural and community resources:

• Natural resources come from nature and are available to all: water, air, sunlight, soil, mountains, forests.
• Community resources are facilities provided by the government or society for the public good: government hospitals, roads, parks, public libraries, post offices.

Characteristics of resources:

• Utility: a resource is useful only in relation to a goal. Its usefulness depends on what you want to do: an old newspaper can wrap a parcel, line a shelf or become a paper bag.
• Accessibility: how easily a resource can be obtained differs from person to person and over time. A student may have plenty of free time in the holidays but very little in exam weeks.
• Interchangeability: most resources have substitutes. Someone with no time to stitch a kurta can use money to have a tailor stitch it; someone without money for a tailor can use time and skill.
• Manageability: all resources are limited, in quantity (money) or in some other way (time is fixed at 24 hours), so they can and must be managed.

Three dimensions of time. Our time is divided among work (study, a job, household tasks), non-work activities (eating, bathing, travelling, caring for oneself) and rest and leisure (sleep, play, hobbies). A balance among the three keeps a person fit, strong and alert; a student who studies late every night without rest soon becomes tired and less effective.