The scarcity of time only works because other variables stem from it. For example, because players don't make much money per day, the average player can't pay for both food and heat consistently. Players always feel the strain of forcing their family to endure one type of sadness or another. The lore of making your family suffer + the mechanics of losing the game if you go broke turn cash into a premium resource. Therefore, the scarcity of money motivates players to work as quickly as they can and optimize their reading skills. Your money troubles also motivates you to take bribes, which is useful for introducing quandaries. Linking variables like this gives a kind of distance from the time variable. Technically, what you mostly need is money, not specifically time. Instead, you kind of force yourself to optimize time on your own as the 'solution' to money problems. I think when the player puts importance on time on their own, it really helps them get invested in the game.