Here's how you can tackle procrastination in a product innovation role.

Tackling procrastination in a product innovation role involves setting clear, achievable goals and breaking tasks into manageable steps. Use tools like to-do lists and calendars to prioritize and schedule tasks. Establish a dedicated workspace free from distractions and adhere to a structured routine. Implement time management techniques such as the Pomodoro Technique to maintain focus. Address any underlying fears or perfectionism that may be causing delays. Regularly review progress to stay motivated and accountable. Finally, reward yourself for completing tasks to reinforce positive behavior and maintain momentum.

Embrace iterative prototyping to refine ideas swiftly. By testing concepts early and often, you gather real-world feedback that guides improvements and ensures your final product meets market needs effectively.

Define Clear Objectives: Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your projects. Clearly defined goals give you a sense of direction and purpose, making it easier to stay focused and motivated. Break Down Goals: Divide larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks. Breaking down projects into smaller steps can make them seem less daunting and help you maintain momentum as you complete each task. Set Deadlines: Assign deadlines to each task and goal. Having a timeline creates a sense of urgency and helps you stay on track. Be realistic about the time required to complete each task to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Define Clear Objectives: Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your projects. Clearly defined goals provide direction and motivation. Break Down Goals: Divide larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks. This makes the overall project less overwhelming and helps maintain momentum as you complete each task. Set Deadlines: Assign realistic deadlines to each task and goal. Deadlines create a sense of urgency and help you stay on track.

Clear Objectives: Define clear, achievable goals for your projects. Break down large projects into smaller, manageable tasks with specific deadlines. SMART Goals: Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to set your goals. This makes it easier to track progress and stay focused.

Identify Priorities: Determine which tasks are most important and prioritize them based on their impact and urgency. Focus on completing high-priority tasks first. Use a Task Management System: Utilize task management tools such as Trello, Asana, or Microsoft To Do to organize and prioritize your tasks. These tools help you keep track of your progress and stay organized. Create a Daily Plan: At the beginning of each day, create a to-do list with the tasks you need to accomplish. Prioritize these tasks and allocate specific time blocks to work on them.

Regularly monitor industry shifts, competitor moves, and consumer behavior to identify emerging opportunities and pivot your product strategy proactively.

What’s important to do? Is it direct impact to your OKRs? is it can be done on this month? If both yes, Go ahead and tackle it; otherwise park it, And the best to achieve completing those tasks, daily standup goal of it reminding team about what’s important and resolve any blocker.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful tool for categorizing tasks by urgency and importance. The matrix consists of four quadrants: Urgent and Important (Do First): Tasks that are both urgent and important should be prioritized first. These tasks typically have deadlines and significant consequences if not completed on time. Important but Not Urgent (Schedule): Tasks that are important but not urgent should be scheduled and planned for. Urgent but Not Important (Delegate): Tasks that are urgent but not important should be delegated to others if possible. Not Urgent or Important (Eliminate): Tasks that are neither urgent nor important should be eliminated or minimized.

Foster collaboration between diverse teams and departments to spark fresh perspectives. By bringing together individuals with varied expertise, from design to engineering and marketing, you can harness collective insights that drive innovative solutions and holistic product development.

?? What future do you envision for people and the planet? To reignite passion and remove procrastination, begin with the end in mind. Think about the world you want to live in and the problems you can help solve through your projects. Gather team members to discuss ideas and start small to build momentum together. Sometimes inspiration is best achieved by collaborating with others and remembering what first intrigued you about product innovation as a career path.

By prioritizing a positive mindset over procrastination, product innovators can unleash their full creative potential and drive profound impact. Reflecting on Elon Musk's journey, despite significant challenges in creating the first Tesla Roadster, Musk and his team persevered with unwavering optimism. Their steadfast belief in the potential of electric vehicles fueled their persistence through obstacles. Musk fostered a culture of inspired, solution-oriented thinking that led to the Roadster's triumph and laid the foundation for Tesla's remarkable growth.

If these 2 terms "procrastination" and "innovation" come in one sentence, the something has already gone terribly wrong. :) Procrastination appears only if someone is doing something, what their psyche considers to be "wrong", unsuitable, against their values. An engineer is an dopamine addict, receiving his dose of this drug every time a problem is solved. There is no place for procrastination in the innovation process. ;)

Well, I guess it depends on who is procrastinating…..in my old Dental research role, the US based Unilever receiving company who’d briefed the Research project just kept procrastinating…months and months…about whether to take the innovation or not. In the end I recommended to my senior management that we close the project and reallocate resources….which he agreed to. It happened again in the Deo R&D role…German marketing team procrastinated for months about taking an innovation they’d said was desperately needed…..Again I recommended closing the project and reallocating resources. Sometimes senior teams brief R&D projects without really thinking through what they’d do if it was actually delivered. Happened all the time in my career.

1) figure out why (and if!) you're really procrastinating, one big theme in innovation is dealing with uncertainty and cognitive dissonance; 2) consider that 'being busy' also can block you from thinking deeply so procrastination may be a good thing. Jumping to conclusions and rushing will get you nowhere fast.