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Global Perspectives on Service Science: Japan pp 207–227Cite as

Quest for Equation of Life: Scientific Constraints on How We Spend Our Time

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Abstract

How much time do you spend on each activity today? This is one of the central issues of optimization in a broad spectrum of services and personal activities. However, conventionally, the time allocation and prioritization have been out of the scope of science, but a matter of managerial or personal decision making.

This chapter, based on longitudinal measurement of human dynamics, denies this and uncovers that the time for any activity is constrained by the thermodynamics-based upper limit. The derived formula, the same form as that for Carnot efficiency of a heat engine based on the entropy-maximizing principle, is found to be governing the daily human activity process. This physics-based understanding of human time-allocation changes the framework of optimization in any activities and also provides novel principle for better productivity, e.g., through balanced motion-bandwidth utilization, in service, work, education, and life.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank K. Kawamoto, T. Tanaka, K. Aiki, H. Kuriyama for measurement, N. Masuda, H. Kubota, N. Sato and A. Sato for discussion and comments, T. Akitomi, J. Watanabe, K. Ara, H. Takeda for suggestions on modeling. Anonymous statistical data were obtained with written consent having policy for information handling and ethics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Group, Hitachi Ltd., Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuo Yano

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  1. Kazuo Yano
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Correspondence to Kazuo Yano .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, San Jose State University, SAN JOSE, California, USA

    Stephen K. Kwan

  2. IBM University Programs World-Wide, IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California, USA

    James C. Spohrer

  3. School of Computer Science, Tokyo University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuriko Sawatani

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Yano, K. (2016). Quest for Equation of Life: Scientific Constraints on How We Spend Our Time. In: Kwan, S., Spohrer, J., Sawatani, Y. (eds) Global Perspectives on Service Science: Japan. Service Science: Research and Innovations in the Service Economy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3594-9_14

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