Idioms for procrastination are special phrases that mean something different from what the words say on their own. People use them to make their speaking and writing more colorful, descriptive, and fun. In this guide, you will learn many popular expressions that describe waiting too long, delaying tasks, and putting things off until later.
In this lesson, we’ll look at idioms that mean delaying chores, stalling important tasks, and wasting valuable time. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.
Idioms for Procrastination
1. Drag your feet
Meaning: Delaying action or moving very slowly because you do not want to do a task.
For Example: When it was time to clean his bedroom, he started to drag his feet. / Stop dragging your feet and finish your math homework before dinner.
Other Ways to Say: Stall / Delay action
2. Put off until tomorrow
Meaning: Delaying a chore or assignment instead of handling it right away.
For Example: Do not put off until tomorrow what you can easily finish today. / He always likes to put off until tomorrow when chores pile up.
Other Ways to Say: Delay tasks / Postpone work
3. Foot-dragging
Meaning: Slow and reluctant progress caused by deliberately avoiding work.
For Example: The teacher noticed too much foot-dragging when cleaning up art supplies. / We need to finish this project without any more foot-dragging.
Other Ways to Say: Slowness / Reluctance
4. Beat around the bush
Meaning: Avoiding a direct task or conversation by stalling with minor details.
For Example: Stop beating around the bush and start your science report. / He kept beating around the bush instead of cleaning his desk.
Other Ways to Say: Stall / Avoid the issue
5. Buy time
Meaning: Delaying an action deliberately to gain extra moments before starting.
For Example: Asking extra questions about the directions was just his way to buy time. / She tried to buy time by organizing her markers before writing.
Other Ways to Say: Stall for time / Delay
6. Burn daylight
Meaning: Wasting precious hours of the day on lazy delays instead of working.
For Example: Hurry up and pack your backpack so we don’t burn daylight. / Stop playing video games and help us, don’t burn daylight.
Other Ways to Say: Waste time / Delay working
7. Twiddle your thumbs
Meaning: Doing nothing productive while waiting or avoiding necessary work.
For Example: Instead of twiddling your thumbs, start reading your history chapter. / He spent the whole afternoon twiddling his thumbs instead of practicing piano.
Other Ways to Say: Waste time / Do nothing
8. Sit on your hands
Meaning: Failing to take action or help when something needs to be done immediately.
For Example: We cannot just sit on our hands while the classroom needs cleaning. / Stop sitting on your hands and help pack the gear.
Other Ways to Say: Do nothing / Delay action
9. Kick the can down the road
Meaning: Delaying a difficult decision or problem so someone else deals with it later.
For Example: Ignoring the messy closet is just kicking the can down the road. / We shouldn’t kick the can down the road on our group project.
Other Ways to Say: Postpone a problem / Delay decisions
10. Play for time
Meaning: Stalling an action to give yourself more time to think or avoid starting.
For Example: When asked a hard question, he tried to play for time by smiling. / Sharpening pencils over and over was just her way to play for time.
Other Ways to Say: Stall / Delay
11. Dilly-dally
Meaning: Wasting time wandering around or moving slowly instead of working.
For Example: Stop dilly-dallying in the hallway and get to your desk. / If you stop dilly-dallying, we can finish chores before lunch.
Other Ways to Say: Waste time / Linger
12. Shilly-shally
Meaning: Hesitating and wasting time because you cannot make up your mind.
For Example: Stop shilly-shallying and pick a book from the shelf. / Her constant shilly-shallying made us late for practice.
Other Ways to Say: Hesitate / Waste time
13. Lollygag
Meaning: Spending time idly and lazily instead of finishing necessary duties.
For Example: The coach told the players not to lollygag during stretching drills. / Stop lollygagging around the kitchen and finish your snack.
Other Ways to Say: Loiter / Waste time
14. Dawdle
Meaning: Moving and acting with slow laziness when you should be quick.
For Example: Do not dawdle on your way home from school today. / He tended to dawdle whenever it was time to pack his school bag.
Other Ways to Say: Move slowly / Waste time
15. Procrastinate
Meaning: Delaying or postponing tasks that need immediate attention.
For Example: Waiting until Sunday night to write your essay means you tend to procrastinate. / Try not to procrastinate on studying for the history quiz.
Other Ways to Say: Put things off / Delay work
16. Resting on your laurels
Meaning: Stopping hard work because you delayed starting new goals.
For Example: Finishing last week’s test doesn’t mean you should rest on your laurels. / Keep practicing instead of resting on your laurels.
Other Ways to Say: Stop trying / Delay progress
17. Take your sweet time
Meaning: Moving extremely slowly and deliberately delaying a task.
For Example: You always take your sweet time getting your shoes on for soccer. / Don’t take your sweet time cleaning up the art table.
Other Ways to Say: Move slowly / Delay
18. Sleep on it
Meaning: Delaying a final decision until the next morning to think it over.
For Example: You don’t have to choose your club project today, just sleep on it. / He decided to sleep on it before picking his art topic.
Other Ways to Say: Postpone decision / Think overnight
19. Wait until the last minute
Meaning: Delaying work until the final seconds before a deadline arrives.
For Example: Starting your science project the night before is waiting until the last minute. / Always avoid waiting until the last minute to study.
Other Ways to Say: Delay until deadline / Rush at end
20. Spin your wheels
Meaning: Spending lots of energy on activity without making any actual progress.
For Example: Without a clear plan, we were just spinning our wheels on the poster. / Organizing notes over and over felt like spinning our wheels.
Other Ways toSay: Waste effort / Go nowhere
21. Beat around the bush NOT
Meaning: Getting straight to your chores without any delay or hesitation.
For Example: She got straight to work, beating around the bush not. / Finishing homework immediately meant beating around the bush not.
Other Ways toSay: Be direct / Work promptly
22. Grass grow under your feet
Meaning: Wasting time standing still and failing to take action.
For Example: Hurry up and finish your packing, don’t let grass grow under your feet. / Move quickly and don’t let grass grow under your feet during the race.
Other Ways toSay: Stay active / Move fast
23. Stalls and delays
Meaning: The habitual action of postponing work through excuses.
For Example: The teacher grew tired of his endless stalls and delays on homework. / Avoid stalls and delays by starting your chores right away.
Other Ways toSay: Postponements / Slowdowns
24. Leave till later
Meaning: Pushing tasks away from the present moment to deal with later.
For Example: It is tempting to leave till later what you can finish now. / He always chose to leave till later his hardest math assignments.
Other Ways toSay: Postpone / Delay
25. Put on the back burner
Meaning: Delaying a project or task because it is not your top priority right now.
For Example: We had to put our art project on the back burner during exam week. / Let’s put that game on the back burner until homework is done.
Other Ways toSay: Postpone / Deprioritize
26. Idle away
Meaning: Wasting hours of time on lazy, unproductive activities.
For Example: He liked to idle away his weekend afternoons playing video games instead of chores. / Don’t idle away your study time before tests.
Other Ways toSay: Waste time / Spend lazily
27. Kill time
Meaning: Doing trivial activities just to pass hours while avoiding real work.
For Example: Reading comic books was just his way to kill time before dinner. / We played tic-tac-toe to kill time while waiting for the bus.
Other Ways to Say: Waste time / Pass hours
28. Drag things out
Meaning: Making a simple task or chore take much longer than necessary.
For Example: Cleaning your desk shouldn’t take all day, stop dragging things out. / He tended to drag things out when asked to wash dishes.
Other Ways toSay: Prolong / Delay
29. Drag your heels
Meaning: Showing reluctance and delaying movement toward a task.
For Example: Whenever mom mentions grocery shopping, the kids begin to drag their heels. / Stop dragging your heels and get your backpack ready.
Other Ways toSay: Stall / Hesitate
30. Hesitate and wait
Meaning: Standing still and delaying action out of indecision.
For Example: Do not hesitate and wait when the fire drill bell rings. / Hesitate and wait too long, and all the best art supplies will be gone.
Other Ways toSay: Delay / Dilly-dally
31. Postpone the inevitable
Meaning: Delaying a chore or task that you know you have to do eventually anyway.
For Example: Cleaning your room is inevitable, so don’t just postpone the inevitable. / Starting your essay early stops you from postponing the inevitable.
Other Ways to Say: Delay necessary work / Put off duty
32. Slowpoke
Meaning: A humorous term for someone who delays and moves too slowly.
For Example: Hurry up, slowpoke, we are going to miss the museum bus. / He was always known as a slowpoke when packing up his school bag.
Other Ways to Say: Slow person / Lagger
33. Lag behind
Meaning: Falling behind schedule because of constant delay and procrastination.
For Example: Stopping to chat too often made him lag behind on the hiking trail. / Procrastination causes students to lag behind in reading.
Other Ways to Say: Fall behind / Slow down
34. Miss the boat
Meaning: Missing an opportunity because you delayed taking action.
For Example: If you wait too long to sign up for art club, you will miss the boat. / He delayed buying tickets and missed the boat on the school trip.
Other Ways toSay: Be too late / Miss opportunity
35. Snooze you lose
Meaning: A popular saying meaning if you delay or sleep on a chance, you miss it.
For Example: I wanted the blue notebook, but I waited too long, snooze you lose. / Register early for games because snooze you lose.
Other Ways toSay: Delay means missing out / Act fast
36. Sleep on an assignment NOT
Meaning: Starting and finishing homework immediately without delaying.
For Example: She completed her history report early, sleeping on an assignment not. / Prompt students finish projects quickly, sleeping on an assignment not.
Other Ways toSay: Work promptly / Finish early
37. Bury your head in the sand
Meaning: Ignoring a problem or task and hoping it will go away by itself.
For Example: Pretending your homework doesn’t exist is just burying your head in the sand. / Facing challenges is better than burying your head in the sand.
Other Ways toSay: Ignore issues / Avoid reality
38. Kick back and wait
Meaning: Relaxing lazily instead of starting urgent duties.
For Example: You cannot just kick back and wait when chores need finishing. / He liked to kick back and wait until Sunday night to study.
Other Ways toSay: Relax lazily / Delay work
39. Let slide
Meaning: Neglecting responsibilities and allowing important tasks to be delayed.
For Example: Do not let your daily reading practice slide during the weekend. / He let his chores slide and had to rush on Sunday.
Other Ways toSay: Neglect / Postpone duties
40. Stall for time
Meaning: Using excuses to delay starting an assignment or chore.
For Example: Asking for a glass of water was just his way to stall for time. / Stop stalling for time and start your math worksheet.
Other Ways toSay: Delay / Buy time
41. Put off the evil day
Meaning: Delaying a difficult task that you dread doing.
For Example: Cleaning the garage was dreadful, but he kept putting off the evil day. / Face your hardest chores first instead of putting off the evil day.
Other Ways toSay: Postpone dread / Delay chores
42. Hang fire
Meaning: Delaying action or pausing temporarily before starting a task.
For Example: The teacher told us to hang fire on starting the art project until supplies arrived. / We had to hang fire on our trip because of rain.
Other Ways toSay: Wait / Pause
43. Marking time
Meaning: Doing unimportant activities while waiting or delaying real work.
For Example: Shuffling papers on his desk was just marking time before going home. / We spent the first ten minutes of class marking time.
Other Ways toSay: Wait idly / Delay work
44. Coast along
Meaning: Doing the bare minimum work with zero effort or urgency.
For Example: He tried to coast along in science class without studying. / Coasting along on easy tasks won’t help you learn new skills.
Other Ways toSay: Put in minimal effort / Slack off
45. Shirk your duties
Meaning: Lazily avoiding and delaying the responsibilities assigned to you.
For Example: Shirking your duties means someone else has to clean up. / Do not shirk your duties when it is your turn to wash dishes.
Other Ways toSay: Avoid responsibilities / Slack
46. Slacker habit
Meaning: The lazy routine of constantly delaying and avoiding work.
For Example: Leaving homework until morning is a bad slacker habit to break. / He worked hard to eliminate his slacker habit.
Other Ways toSay: Lazy routine / Procrastination
47. Wait for a rainy day
Meaning: Postponing projects until a later, less convenient time.
For Example: Don’t wait for a rainy day to organize your school locker. / Tackle your chores now instead of waiting for a rainy day.
Other Ways toSay: Postpone / Delay
48. Hem and haw
Meaning: Hesitating and stalling with filler sounds because you are avoiding work.
For Example: Stop hemming and hawing and tell me if your chores are finished. / He spent five minutes hemming and hawing before opening his book.
Other Ways toSay: Hesitate / Stall
49. Beat around the clock NOT
Meaning: Working steadily around the clock without delaying tasks.
For Example: She finished her project early, beating around the clock not. / Hard workers focus steadily, beating around the clock not.
Other Ways toSay: Work diligently / Stay focused
50. Postponement habit
Meaning: Constantly putting off tasks until the last possible second.
For Example: Overcoming a postponement habit takes daily practice and scheduling. / His postponement habit made exam week very stressful.
Other Ways toSay: Delaying routine / Procrastination
51. Idle hands
Meaning: A state of laziness where hands do no productive work.
For Example: Grandma always said idle hands lead to mischief, so find a chore. / Keeping busy stops idle hands from wasting time.
Other Ways toSay: Lazy moments / Unproductive hands
52. Drag anchor
Meaning: Moving at a frustratingly slow, delayed pace during a task.
For Example: The project started fast, but soon we began to drag anchor. / Stop dragging anchor and finish your reading assignment.
Other Ways to Say: Slow down / Delay
53. Sleepwalk through work
Meaning: Doing chores lazily and slowly without paying attention.
For Example: Try not to sleepwalk through your homework assignments. / He was just sleepwalking through his chores without focus.
Other Ways to Say: Work mindlessly / Be lazy
54. Wait until pigs fly
Meaning: Waiting for an impossible event, often used when someone delays forever.
For Example: Waiting for him to clean his room voluntarily is like waiting until pigs fly. / If you wait until pigs fly to study, you will fail tests.
Other Ways to Say: Wait forever / Impossible delay
55. Dawdling steps
Meaning: Moving with slow, reluctant laziness toward a chore.
For Example: With dawdling steps, he approached the sink to wash dishes. / She walked with dawdling steps when told to clean her desk.
Other Ways to Say: Slow walking / Lazy movement
56. Leave to the last second
Meaning: Waiting until the final moment before starting an assignment.
For Example: Leaving your science project to the last second causes panic. / Always start early rather than leaving things to the last second.
Other Ways to Say: Rush at deadline / Delay work
57. Postpone indefinitely
Meaning: Delaying a task with no set date for when you will finish it.
For Example: Organizing the attic was postponed indefinitely by dad. / Don’t postpone indefinitely your reading homework.
Other Ways to Say: Delay forever / Put off without date
58. Procrastination station
Meaning: A humorous nickname for a desk where you waste time instead of working.
For Example: Turn off your phone and get off procrastination station. / His messy desk became a true procrastination station.
Other Ways to Say: Time-wasting spot / Lazy zone
59. Delay tactics
Meaning: Clever tricks and excuses used to avoid starting work.
For Example: Sharpening pencils three times is just one of his classic delay tactics. / The teacher saw right through his delay tactics.
Other Ways to Say: Stalling tricks / Excuses
60. Ultimate procrastination
Meaning: The absolute peak of waiting until the very last possible second.
For Example: Starting a ten-page essay at midnight on Sunday is ultimate procrastination. / Avoiding chores all week is ultimate procrastination.
Other Ways to Say: Extreme delay / Maximum postponement
Exercise to Practice
- When it was time to clean his bedroom, he started to drag his ________.
- Do not put off until ________ what you can easily finish today.
- Stop beating around the ________ and start your science report.
- Asking extra questions about the directions was just his way to buy ________.
- Stop dilly-dallying in the ________ and get to your desk.
- Stop hemming and ________ and tell me if your chores are finished.
- Waiting until Sunday night to write your essay means you tend to ________.
- Finishing last week’s test doesn’t mean you should rest on your ________.
- You always take your sweet ________ getting your shoes on for soccer.
- Starting your science project the night before is waiting until the last ________.
- Without a clear plan, we were just spinning our ________ on the poster.
- Hurry up and pack your backpack so we don’t let grass grow under your ________.
- He liked to idle away his weekend afternoons playing video games instead of ________.
- Cleaning your room is inevitable, so don’t just postpone the ________.
- Hurry up, slowpoke, we are going to miss the ________ bus.
Answer Key
- feet
- tomorrow
- bush
- time
- hallway
- hawing
- procrastinate
- laurels
- time
- minute
- wheels
- feet
- chores
- inevitable
- museum
Conclusion
Learning idioms for procrastination is a wonderful way to expand your vocabulary and describe delaying and waiting in creative ways. These expressive phrases help make your everyday speaking, storytelling, and writing far more colorful, descriptive, and engaging.
Try using a few of these helpful idioms the next time you write a story about a character who waits too long or talk about your study habits. Incorporating these expressions into your daily language will boost your communication skills and help your writing shine!
