An economics lecturer describes their typical weekday schedule: They wake up at 7:30am and get ready for the day. They drive 25 minutes to work and try to arrive by 9am to secure parking. Between 9am-5pm they hold office hours, give lectures, meet with students, have lunch with colleagues, and prepare materials. They also answer emails, call students on internships, and work on their PhD thesis. They drive home at 5pm, cook dinner, and prepare for the next day before going to bed around midnight.

1. 7.30am: Alarm goes off. Hug the bed, realising it's cold outside. Hit the shower in an
attempt to wake up. I'm not a morning person. Have breakfast with my fiance, a computer
engineer.
8.10am: The drive to work takes about 25 minutes. Need to be in the car park before 9am
otherwise all the spaces will be gone.
9am: A grab a cup of tea when I get in and bring it to my desk. I reply to my emails and
prepare for my lecture.
9.30am: I have an hour and half of office hours for students to call to me. I have these twice
a week.
11am: I give a 50-minute lecture, one of four a week. Currently my International Economics
students are studying the effects on the economy of multinational companies setting up in
Ireland or pulling out of Ireland. It's quite topical at the moment, especially here in Limerick.
My Health Economics students are looking at the economics behind health insurance.
12am: Go for a coffee break with my colleagues. Shop talk is strictly prohibited.
12.30pm: Meet one of my final year project students one-to-one to go through the week
they've done on their thesis. I have six students to supervise at the moment.
1.30pm: Go for lunch with my colleagues. It's a really good way to bond as a unit.
2.30pm: Prepare my lecture notes for the coming days and put these along with extra
readings on my website for the students to download.
4pm: Answer my emails. I phone some of the BBS co-op students who are doing their work
placement overseas. All students on work experience either get a visit or a phone call from a
member of the school to check in on their progress so this year I'm calling the international
placements.
5pm: Work on my PhD thesis. I try to clear one full day a week, but the college year really
flies by. Therefore, I get a lot of my research and writing done over the holidays.
7pm: I get home and we cook dinner. We sit down and talk about our respective days. I
usually make a few phone calls to organise a few bits for my upcoming wedding in July.
8pm: Prepare for tomorrow's lectures, meetings etc. Watch some television in an attempt to
unwind.
9.30pm: Sort out my clothes and bits for the morning. This gives me five more glorious
minutes in bed in the morning. Then I'll read until I fall asleep around midnight.