Idiom for up-front time investment

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.