The ultimate scarce resource

These days we hear a lot about an "end" to scarcity. Perhaps it's the fact that Keynes (.pdf) is back in fashion, mostly it's the result of technology shifts that release unlimited processing power. We'll never escape from scarcity, for several obvious reasons, but the main one is that the ultimate scarce resource is time. At least it's not. We have enough time. What we lack is attention. What I often refer to as "cognitive capacity". Being able to multi-task makes no difference, we can't prioritise everything. We make choices at the margin. There isn't an infinite number of plates we can keep spinning.