Suppose I do something that might be seen as an immediate waste of time, because I think it will save more time in the long-term, be it preventing problems, by solving them faster, or by making future tasks faster (an option neither of two idioms I'm about to discuss addresses). I'm looking for an idiom, if one exists, that would describe this priority. "A stitch in time saves nine" doesn't work, as it refers to immediately addressing an existing problem, rather than shoring up against future problems (e.g. with research or by securing something). "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is closer, but neither the ounce nor the pound is specifically a cost of time. I'm looking for a phrase that explicitly concerns investing time to save more time later.
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Possibly a duplicate of What is the contemporary English proverb for 'throw in a sprat to catch a salmon'?, but I'll offer 'You have to speculate to accumulate'.– Edwin AshworthCommented Jan 6, 2021 at 19:00
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@EdwinAshworth While those examples aren't temporal, I get the feeling that won't be the last time I learn interesting expressions on this question, so thank you.– J.G.Commented Jan 6, 2021 at 19:03
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I think both the phrases you cite (stitch and ounce) mean up-front work which means time (and they're certainly used to mean "do the work now and save time later"). But I'm certainly willing to see any other examples.– Stuart FCommented Jan 7, 2021 at 13:14
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