# Free Press Journal column argues that protecting personal time is a discipline, not a luxury 2026-08-06T02:26:31+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk A Free Press Journal opinion column argues that most people feel perpetually short of time, a feeling the writer says starts the day with stress and encourages hurried, error-prone multitasking, such as checking a phone mid-conversation. The column contrasts today's smartphone notifications and social feeds, which it describes as engineered to keep users scrolling, with an older, more occasional form of multitasking a decade ago. It presents protecting one's time as a conscious discipline rather than a habit some people are simply born with, urging readers to pause periodically and ask where their time is actually going. The piece closes by framing time, unlike money, as something that cannot be recovered once lost through distraction or half-finished tasks. The writer, identified as a spiritual educator and columnist affiliated with Brahma Kumaris, offers reflective guidance rather than data or research findings. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The column's central claims, that phones and feeds are deliberately engineered to prolong attention and that multitasking produces more errors, are stated as the writer's own reasoned view rather than supported with data, a distinction preserved here rather than treated as established fact. Its practical advice, to pause and audit where time goes, is a reasonable suggestion regardless of the evidence behind the framing. The piece is explicitly reflective rather than reported, and cites no research or figures to check. Any later column from this writer that backs the engineered-distraction claim with actual data on attention and multitasking would be the one concrete point worth checking. ## Coverage - www.freepressjournal.in Tags: Brahma Kumaris Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/the-most-expensive-thing-you-own-why-protecting-your-time-is-the-key-to-a-meaningful-life/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/the-most-expensive-thing-you-own-why-protecting-your-time-is-the-key-to-a-meaningful-life/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.