Here's how you can balance your workload as a software tester without sacrificing your personal life.

Prioritize Tasks: Identify critical tests based on project deadlines and importance. Focus on these tasks first to ensure high-impact areas are covered. Time Management: Allocate specific times for work tasks and personal activities. Use tools like calendars or task managers to keep track of deadlines and personal commitments. Break Down Tasks: Divide larger tasks into smaller, manageable ones. This approach reduces overwhelm and provides a sense of accomplishment as each smaller task is completed. Set Boundaries: Clearly define work hours and personal time. Avoid checking work emails or performing work tasks outside of your designated work hours to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

List down all the activities for the project Use - WBS - work breakdown structure Understand the scope, get the order in which the tasks are coming in your way and its priorities - then create a plan with resources and timelines

You become better at prioritize tasks as you gain more experience. One of the challenges prioritizing, especially once you have enough experience, is getting a push back from the business side (or client if you work as a consultant) that other tasks are more important to prioritize. Best way to solve this type of situation is by improving your communication skills and being able to deliver your point in the right way based on person's personality. Note: Keep an open mind because sometimes it might get the priority of the task wrong. We all have biases (some more than the others ??)

Prioritize tasks: Focus on high-priority tasks first and allocate time accordingly. Break tasks into smaller chunks: This makes them more manageable and helps prevent feeling overwhelmed. Set realistic deadlines: Be honest about what you can accomplish in a given timeframe to avoid burnout. Communicate with your team: Discuss workload and deadlines openly to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Time management: 1. You need to discipline throughout the day, that helps you manage time for your personal and professional life. 2. Work on the task based on the priorities defined and agreed. Make the to-do list and have approx effort against that, keep striking out ASAP you complete it. 3. Try to see any room to automate the stuff, so that if it is a repetitive tasks then later you can save time for yourself or for your team. 4. Some time take expert help if needed that helps you come sooner on the track very quickly otherwise it will take you more time than expected 5. Keep breaks on regular intervals, to get motivated and moving

Entenda os momentos em que você é mais produtivo. Algumas pessoas s?o mais produtivas de manh? e outras s?o mais produtivas na parte da tarde. Após isso, gerencie seu tempo com base nas tarefas prioritárias: 1. O que eu preciso finalizar hoje? 2. o que eu preciso finalizer nessa semana? 3. o que eu posso finalizar hoje mas n?o é urgente e pode cair pra amanh?? 4. o que eu posso finalizar essa semana mas n?o é urgente e pode cair pra semana seguinte sem ruído? Foque seu tempo produtivo nas tarefas urgentes e prioritárias e tenha um controle das suas listas de tarefas. Caso esteja sobrecarregado, levante a m?o e pessa ajuda pro time ou negocie novas datas para que você n?o fique sobrecarregado.

1. Automate the areas which have less chance of changes/ or stable one's 2. Start automation along with the product development, start with the backend layers (DB/ API) 3. Breakdown your complex scenarios into smaller, logical and verifiable. Make sure you create the data before start of the script,test it and delete your data and created transactional data. 4. Make sure your scripts are independent as much as possible, so that those are run in parallel 5. Make sure your automation suite should be faster 6. Automation should be layers in different way - unit/ component/ integration/ functional / Regression 7. Follow Test pyramid model to segregation and avoid duplicates 8. Use your test automation in CI/CD pipeline 9. Follow the left shift

Very very very crucial! A lot of times people tend to focus on sharpening their technical skills and knowledge while neglecting their communication skills. Key things that helped me personally are: 1. Understanding the 4 personality types. (Peronality Plus by Florence Littauer would be a great read) 2. Improving the ability to make people feel heard and important part of the team. (Skill with People by Les Giblin) 3. Improving the ability to compact your thoughts and ideas. It should not take an hour speech to share an idea or a thought.

Communication is a key role in every stage 1. Very clear with the team on the expectations and deliverables and time 2. Be transparent in allocating the tasks with team, so that they all get confidence with you and team. 3. Create environment which is psychological safety for all the members in team. Be empathy. 4. Please communicate risks to all the stakeholders on time, propose the mitigation plans 5. Dont consider last minutes changes, some time you need to learn to say NO. 6. Respect the quality over time

Continuous learning is all about consistently seeking out new knowledge and skills to grow both personally and professionally. It involves staying curious, actively seeking opportunities to learn, and staying updated with industry trends, tools, and methodologies. This could mean taking online courses, attending workshops, reading relevant literature, or participating in professional communities. By embracing continuous learning, individuals can enhance their expertise, adapt to changes in their field, and remain competitive in their careers.

Continuous learning is crucial for software testers to stay current with industry trends and tools, which in turn makes them more efficient and effective at their jobs. By dedicating time to learn new technologies, methodologies, and best practices, testers can streamline their work processes and reduce the time needed for tasks. This can be achieved through online courses, attending webinars, and participating in professional communities. This proactive approach not only enhances their skill set but also allows them to manage their workload better, leaving more time for personal life.

One thing I've found very essential in delegating tasks is having to build and continue building a strong relationship with your team. Always keep in mind that just like you might be buried in work and life situation, so could be your teammate. And until and unless you have a good relationship, they will never share their thoughts and feelings openly with you. It might not be a big deal in the beginning, but if left unaddressed, can create a lot of issues within the team and affect the team environment and culture.

You need to create a leaders like you then only you will identify the value of delegation!! After delegating the tasks you need have an eye on the results/outputs by regular internals and guide them. Mistakes will happen, let it happen in the early stage where you are monitoring. Let him/her try to answer what went wrong and what is expected? then ask for how to mitigate it. You have an option always correct it. From next time he/she will understand how to manage it, then they will learn it. Some people learn easily, yeah some time it takes time, it is a process, people takes time, but have a trust, they will pick it up. All humans are not born with robot brain! :)