The Online Reflector

As professionals, mothers and wives, two professors at the University of Indianapolis lead hectic lives that would overwhelm anyone who does not know how to manage time.

Kinesiology Instructor Mindy Mayol and Biology Instructor/Lab Director Mary Gobbett both said they manage their time to reduce their stress and stay organized.

“Even before life got really busy, I was always very conscious of my time management,” Mayol said.

Mayol is a mother of two, wife and full-time instructor at UIndy. She recently wrote a book called “Wellness: The Total Package,” which the kinesiology department uses as its main reference book. In her book, Mayol sets apart a section specifically targeting time management.

“We all kind of feel some stress-related issues when it comes to ‘how am I going to get all of this done?’” Mayol said.

Mayol believes everyone, herself included, has the right to five seconds of panicking, but quickly needs to get over the issue and figure out how to break a larger task down into smaller ones.

In her book, Mayol sheds light on goal setting as a step towards time management.

“It’s a whole different mindset,” Mayol said. “In the textbook, we talk about goal setting as far as reachable, realistic and measurable.”

Mayol also stresses the importance for balance as a student or professional. She said that balance is an important aspect of time management as is prioritization.

“Not everyone’s lives are cookie-cutter and not everyone’s schedules are cookie-cutter,” Mayol said. “You have to figure out what works best for you.”

According to Mayol, our whole lives are based on awareness of ourselves, our feelings and our surroundings.

In order to find balance and organization, we have to become aware of what is most time consuming and how time is spent.

Gobbett also talked about the importance of being organized and time management.

“It is [her office] Grand Central Station at all times,” Gobbett said.

Like Mayol, Gobbett is a mother, wife and full-time instructor. Her job includes servicing the entire faculty in the biology department, employing and supervising 20 students and taking care of the department’s budget and scheduling. Her schedule quickly fills up on a daily basis, so time management is crucial.

“If I can manage my time, it’s the only way I can get anything done,” Gobbett said.

Gobbett admits she has not always been effective with her time. Before starting a family, she found it easier to put things off until the end of the day and stay late into the evening to finish her job. However, since starting a family, she finds it beneficial to multitask. Gobbett said that if she could do 10 things at one time she would certainly get things done quicker.

In order to get everything done for the biology department, Gobbett finds it necessary to hire students to help with her work. They become the her helping hands, and according to Gobbett, there is no way she could get everything done without the student assistants.

“Students do a great job,” Gobbett said. “I hire them for everything.”

The science department relies heavily on the students.

The students are more organized than she, according to Gobbett.

“The type of job I have is flexible, to a point, but there’s no substitute,” Gobbett said. “If you’re not here, no one else can do your job.”

Gobbett’s advice to students is to stay organized and always look for ways to become more organized.
“It is amazing once you are organized, how much more you can do,” Gobbet said.

She advises students to think ahead and start projects or papers in advance to reduce the stress of doing everything at the last minute. She stressed that in order to be organized, you must prioritize and be disciplined.

“There are a lot of things that you don’t want to do,” Gobbett said. “Being organized means that it’s not really an option.”