Yeah, I did try to make it take as little waiting as possible (and if you play optimally, there is basically no waiting), but at its core, it is a resource management game, so there's always going to be some form of waiting. As for your original confusion, did you read the help menu? Although it is a bit of a text wall, it should explain everything in the game pretty well.
Anyway, thanks for playing! I hope you had fun with the game at least.