This problem can be extended to systems like project management, where your workers are not computers but people. For instance: Suppose you have a team of six

This problem can be extended to systems like project management, where your workers are not computers but people. For instance: Suppose you have a team of six people, and you're being asked to tackle two projects for two clients, each of equal value to the business. One project will take two weeks to complete; another will take four months to complete. How do you determine a "fair" way to divide up those projects? Do you do one before the other? Do you divide up your team's capacity equally and do them in parallel? This is the same sort of queuing problem described in the post. So a solution to the computer queuing problem might have interesting implications for the broader problem.