Time-Blocking: 10 Best Techniques for Engineering Students with Internships

Are you struggling to manage your engineering classes alongside internships? Check out these 10 time-blocking techniques to help you manage your time better and succeed in both. 

Introduction: An Engineering Student’s Balancing Act

Imagine this scenario: It is 2 am and you are still trying to debug some code for your internship. Then, you suddenly remember that your thermodynamics exam is in 6 hours. Life of an engineering student right? For students that take on internships, there is a difficult triangle which consists of: “ strenuous educational requirements, challenging professionally relevant coursework, and a complete lack of free time”. Research shows that 68% of students studying engineering report always being stressed because of deadline overlaps (ASEE, 2023). 

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could handle your timetable like a pro? That is where time-blocking comes in: A proven method to transform disorder into focused productivity. Head over to StudentBestie to see how we have solved this dilemma. Here are ten revolutionary tips to ensure that you not only succeed but absolutely thrive. 

The Struggle is Real: Challenges Engineering Students Face

Here are some productivity blockers: 

• Meeting multiple deadlines: 73% of engineering interns neglect personal obligations because of their workload (NACE, 2022)
• Context-switching fatigue: Changing from one lab or meeting into another, before beginning coding destroys any chance of concentration. 
• Burnout: 60% of STEM interns report feeling completely drained within 3 months (MIT Study, 2023).  
• Poor work-life balance: The term “leisure” ceases to exist. 

But don’t panic—time-blocking can turn this around.

Three Modern Time-Blocking Secrets to Get Your Day Back on Track

1. The ‘Power Hour’ Structure

Underlying Issue: Distracted focus during study blocks.  

Proposed Idea: Schedule blocks of deep focus for one hour each, with the following structure:  

• 50 mins: Advanced Concentration on a Task (e.g., coding, problem sets).  
• 10 mins: Reset & Refresh (stretch, drink some water, scroll through TikTok).

Why It Works: Provides a refresh the same way a sprint does.  

Case Study: Engineering students from UC Berkeley reported an average 22% increase in exam scores while using this method (2023 StudentBestie Survey).  

2. Digital Calendars With Colors

Underlying Issue: Rarely attend scheduled meetings or meet deadlines.  

Proposed Idea: Block schedule color-coded in Google Calendar or Notion:  

• 🔵 Blue: Internship related activities (e.g., team standups, project work).  
• 🟢 Green: Academic Activities (Attending lectures, Study groups).  
• 🟡 Yellow: Personal Self care activities (Going to the gym, Eating meals, Sleeping).  

Pro Tip: Pair with Todoist for automatic task population.  

3. The Batching Method for Technical Work

Underlying Issue: Inefficiency switching between coding, CAD, and writing lab reports.

Proposed Idea: Split work into themed blocks containing similar tasks:  

• Monday AM: CAD design projects.  
• Wednesday PM: Python scripting.  
• Friday Evening: Writing lab reports.  

Stats: This method enhances efficiency by decreasing task-switching time 40% (American Psychological Association).

Bonus Tricks to Try for Peak Efficiency

4. AI-Centric Time Audits: These are completed with tools like RescueTime that provides analytics on screen time.
5. The “Two Minute Rule”: Assumed in discussions – If a task takes less than two minutes, such as replying to emails, execute it right away.  
6. Buffer Blocks: Assign 15 to 30 minutes of bulge space on a daily basis for unscheduled works like email from the boss or some urgent revisions.  
7. Weekend Reverse Planning: On each Sunday, start planning the week ahead, paying attention to both your interns’ activities as well as academic objectives.
8. Pomodoro + Time-Blocking Mash-Up: For maximum focus, work within blocks of time using a Pomodoro app such as Focus Keeper.  
9. Energy-based Scheduling: For tasks requiring significant mental effort, FEA simulations for example, perform them when you experience appropriate amounts of energy, searching into peak hours such as morning or night.  
10. The “Shutdown Ritual”: Conclude day with five-minute analytical reflection review of daily performance and adjust blocks for the next day of work while guilt-free relaxing.

How These Hacks Transform Routine

• Save more than 10 hours a week by getting rid of and simplifying decision spectacle.  
• Improve on internships performance through the guidance of time structured project minutes.  
• Lower stress levels because there is confidence that the work will get done within the allocated time.  

Real Life Win: Break Through Jake’s Internship Success

Jake a student of mechanical engineering, interning at TESLA had challenges finishing 80 hour weeks and after incorporating color coded calendars and batching, he was able to:  

• Reduce work late sessions by 60%. 
• Achieve an A on a National Robotics course.
• Obtain a full-time employment offer.  

“It was the time blocking that changed me from overwhelmed intern to team MVP,”* he says.  

Tools to Power Intensify Your Card Using Time Blocking Planning

• Notion: Enables users to create their own time block templates.  
• Clockwise: Enables automatic focus time optimization in calendars.
• Forest App: Grow trees while staying off the phone. 

StudentBestie Stands Ready To Equip You Into Conquering Your Schedule!

If you’re overwhelmed, there’s no reason to go through it alone. Here at StudentBestie, we transform overwhelmed students into productivity ninjas. We provide:  

• Free Time-Blocking Templates (Yes, they’re good enough for engineers!).  
• 1:1 Coaching Sessions to tailor the strategy to fit your needs.  
• Help Internships and Academics Workshops to help get that balance.