Time vs.Task—the Billion-Dollar Question TAMAR AVNET, PH.D. Professor of Marketing at Sy Syms School of Business Chair, Marketing Department Director, MBA Program
Mindful Courage: A Groundbreaking Approach to Eating Disorder Recovery MARGARET SALA, PH.D. Assistant Professor of YU’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology Licensed Clinical Psychologist Principal Investigator, $800,000 NIH Grant
been a mentor to students and a sought-af- ter marketing expert for various media out- lets ever since. Dr. Avnet is proud to be a member of the Syms faculty at YU, a university dedicated to fostering innovation and leadership in its faculty and students. She is especially excit- ed for what the future holds as she spear- heads the marketing of Sy Syms’ innovative, fully online MBA program. The program offers flexible start times throughout the year, can be taken from anywhere, and gives students market-leading skills from Syms’ exemplary faculty, all while instilling values in students that help improve the world. “YU is a very special place,” said Dr. Avnet. “It promotes a culture of collabora- tion and working together among its facul- ty. I am grateful that we are given the op- portunity to conduct innovative research while being supported for who we are. It’s a powerful combination.” And thanks to Dr. Avnet’s groundbreak- ing research on time management, we can all learn to manage our days—and our lives—more efficiently, more enjoyably and more meaningfully.
A s over 24 million Americans grapple with eating disor- ders—a crisis exacerbated by the pandemic—treatment, for the vast majority of sufferers, remains inaccessible and ineffective. Through groundbreaking research and a new $800,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Margaret Sala, assistant professor in YU’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, is trans- forming that narrative, distinguishing herself as a leader in a chal- lenging field. A world-renowned expert on eating disorders, at just 34, Dr. Sala and her team at Ferkauf are revolutionizing the treat- ment of these deadly conditions. Her innovative research began with marrying cognitive behav- ioral therapy (CBT)—the gold standard treatment for eating disor- ders—with mindfulness, a treatment with emerging evidence for many psychiatric disorders. Now, with funding from the NIH grant, she and her team are pioneering a digital intervention combining mindfulness and CBT, creating one of the first-ever evidence-based, digital platforms to treat eating disorders. The initiative stems from a stark reality: 80% of those struggling with disordered eating do not receive treatment. “Treatment access is fraught with barriers—cost, scarcity of specialists and stigma, to name a few,” Dr. Sala said. Interactive and user-friendly, the digital program, called “Mind- ful Courage,” uses animation voiced by actors to engage users in otherwise complex material. Pilot data shows 95% completion rates—double the rates of most digital treatments—as well as signif- icant reductions in eating disorder symptoms. Dr. Sala and her team are now at work on an expanded, 16-week digital program. The re- sponse, once again, proved the need. “We had no problem recruit- ing participants—and some of these disorders are pretty rare, so the fact that it was so easy to recruit was a shocking surprise for us.” Dr. Sala’s venture into digital treatment was never in the plan. Beginning her research in 2020, she, along with the rest of the world, faced constraints on her own in-person work. “Going digital was a culmination of my experience and my interests,” she said. Despite the promise of her digital platform, Dr. Sala, who main- tains her own private psychotherapy practice, recognizes the unique value of face-to-face therapy. “Digital treatment complements, not replaces, the traditional therapist-patient interaction,” she ex- plained. Her observations underscore a glaring problem in the field: the scarcity of therapists practicing evidence-based treatments. “Our goal is to eventually translate millions spent on research into real-world practice, something that is not always done,” she added.
D oes an external clock guide your daily routine, or is the in- ternal satisfaction of a job well done driving your schedule? Can you toggle between the two behavioral patterns? These are the fascinating ques- tions asked by Dr. Tamar Avnet, chair of the marketing department at YU’s Sy Syms School of Business and professor of mar- keting and the director of its MBA program. Dr. Avnet’s research shows that we pos- sess one of two different styles of behavior regarding time management, which she re- fers to as “clock time” or “event time.” Those who run on clock time will schedule an event for 1 p.m.–2 p.m., and it will last an hour, no more, no less. Others may sched- ule the same event at 1 p.m., but it could end as early as 12:30 p.m. or as late as 3 p.m. As Dr. Avnet explained, “the amount of time given to the event is dependent on feeling that the job has been done well. Essentially, the trigger for beginning and ending a task can be external, based on a clock, or inter- nal, based on your own judgment of com- pletion.” According to Dr. Avnet, both styles of scheduling have their benefits—clock time is more efficient while event time is more effective. When asked if it’s possible to tog- gle between the two styles, Dr. Avnet said it is, however it takes practice, which can lead to a more enjoyable and efficient life. In the business world, Dr. Avnet be- lieves event time is better for entrepre- neurs running a start-up, because, as she said, “they will want to give as much time as possible to ensure the product is perfect and people will love it. But once the prod- uct is scaled and being offered broadly on the market, a clock-time CEO is probably better for the company to run efficiently.” She believes that billions of dollars of
economic potential exist within her model, from workplace efficiency to marketing. It can also be relevant for shoppers’ product choices. “The implications are boundless,” Dr. Avnet said, adding, “to be good in busi- ness you have to think like a psychologist.” Born in Israel, Dr. Avnet served in the Israel Defense Forces and then completed a bachelor’s degree in economics and a mas- ter’s degree in organizational behavior at Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. She then earned a Ph.D. in marketing at Columbia University Business School. In 2007, she joined Yeshiva Univer- sity as a professor of marketing and has
Dr. Sala’s journey into eating disorders began during her gradu- ate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s re- nowned UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, where she became fascinated by the psychological complexities of anorexia. “It is so against biology to starve yourself, there are so many drives to protect against it,” she said. “And it’s such a hard disorder to treat. I developed a real compassion for these individuals, and it’s stayed with me.” As has her frustration—with the shortage of specialists in the field, and with the fact that eating disorders are so understudied and underfunded; obesity receives 10 times more funding than eat- ing disorders. As a result, many providers, and patients themselves, come to feel hopeless. “Often in treatment, there’s a revolving door—pa- tients go in, they get better, they relapse, they come back.” Eating disorders, particularly anorexia, are among the deadliest mental illnesses, second only to opioid addiction, resulting in about 10,200 deaths each year. It doesn’t have to be that way. “Everyone deserves treatment,” said Dr. Sala. “This is a passion project, a hope that we can bring recovery to the millions who suf- fer alone.”
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