History Main / RidiculousProcrastinator

* Billy from ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' may be the reigning champ. In one episode, his class was supposed to write a book report. The next day, when the assignment is due, Billy is revealed to be the only one who didn't work on it. Grim decides to help him out by sending him into the future when he does finally finish it, so he can take it back and turn it in. We end up seeing that Billy is an old man by the time he's done. It ends up not mattering as the young Billy, instead of taking it back, [[WhatAnIdiot deliberately destroys it]] [[ItAmusedMe because he thinks it's funny.]]

* ''WebVideo/ClassT1T5'': One of the most defining trait of the main character [=JianHao=], especially in the earlier skits. In case of study time, he'll do everything... ''except'' studying. However, due to CharacterDevelopment, he's trying to not procrastinate as much as before in order to win the heart of his crush, the study-obsessed Denise.

* The cardinals electing UsefulNotes/ThePope used to be this. The record goes to the election of Gregorius X, which took ''almost three years'' (1006 days to be exact. Partially {{Justified}} by the fierce political divisions between pro-French and pro-Empire cardinals ''and'' the first two compromise candidates refusing by means of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away from the city]], but even then the cardinals did not meet every day), and would have taken more time had the people of Viterbo (the place where the cardinals had congregated) not decided that enough was enough and locked them in the Palazzo dei Papi ("Palace of the Popes"), [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment denied them food other than bread and water]], and finally ''removed the roof'' -- to say nothing of the political pressure and outright ''threats'' the crowned heads of Europe used to "convince" the cardinals to just hurry up and ''decide'' already. That election will ''always'' hold the record because [[GenreSavvy Gregorius X put into law the means the people of Viterbo used to hurry up the cardinals]] (besides the removing the roof bit -- which was too expensive -- and the political pressure -- which he couldn't control but could rely on anyway, replacing them with a confiscation of whatever income they were supposed to receive during the election).

* Procrastination Giants in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''. They decide to put off kicking your ass until tomorrow. [[ImplausibleDeniability While you are beating them into oblivion]]. One of their attack messages has them see a "Beat up intruders" on the calendar from two weeks ago and decide now's as good a time as any to do it. They can give you a status effect that makes you "decide to attack later" when you try to attack.

Procrastination is the putting off of an unpleasant task until the last minute. It's [[TruthInTelevision quite common]]. Hell, [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife if you are reading this, you probably are procrastinating right now]]. The Ridiculous Procrastinator is someone—often [[BrilliantButLazy someone very capable]]—who does this to such ridiculous extremes that it is almost funny. He will put off writing a 10,000-word paper until the night before it is due, and once he sits down to start it, he will find [[LaboriousLaziness half a million petty tasks that do not need to be done]] to avoid writing that paper. Often, he will find that the assignment practically writes itself once he gets going.

* Creator/DouglasAdams: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by". The reason the first ''[[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1 Hitchhiker's]]'' book ends where it does is that at that point his editor lost patience with all the missed deadlines and told him to just finish the page he was on. According to ''The Salmon of Doubt'', he once took an impromptu trip to Australia to comparatively test-drive a new underwater vehicle and a stingray for an article so that he could procrastinate on another one. Similarly, he once hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro -- spending a part of a trip in a rhino suit -- for similar purposes (though that was also for charity). During the writing of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', he was locked in his hotel room by his editor and was only allowed out for the occasional walk.

* Another T-shirt reads "Top Ten Reasons I Procrastinate: 1) "[[DontExplainTheJoke 'Cause it never finishes the list]]."

** [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife Hey, we all do that "research", right?]]

** Gregorius's law was suspended by Adrian V due to the need for closing loopholes and he died before he could do so, and his successor outright revoked it due to the opposition of the cardinals. Then, at the death of Nicholas IV, it took the cardinals ''two years'' before they settled on the guy who was screaming at them the most for the procrastination, and the new pope Celestine V (who had been a collaborator of Gregorius) promptly reinstated the Conclave, with his successor Boniface VIII (another friend of Gregorius) made sure it couldn't be abolished.

long.]]

** It has been pointed out if Hamlet had just killed Claudius, the [[NecessaryWeasel play would only be one act long.]]

* Creator/DouglasAdams: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by". The reason the first ''[[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1 Hitchhiker's]]'' book ends where it does is that at that point his editor lost patience with all the missed deadlines and told him to just finish the page he was on. According to ''The Salmon of Doubt'', he once took an impromptu trip to Australia to comparatively test-drive a new underwater vehicle and a stingray for an article so that he could procrastinate on another one. Similarly, he once hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro -- spending a part of a trip in a rhino suit -- for similar purposes (though that was also for charity.) During the writing of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', he was locked in his hotel room by his editor and was only allowed out for the occasional walk.

** [[HypoCrite For all that she complains about the constant procrastination of most of her family]], whenever she is free and clear to work Andy Fox will sit around watching soap operas and talk shows or whatever else she needs to do to avoid working on the column she's supposed to be writing. The only time she does do her work is when she's trying to avoid something even more unpleasant, such as playing chess with Roger.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin is a repeat offender. For example, when he has to give a report on the brain, he gets three days to prepare. He writes it on the bus on the way to the school.
** Another time, Calvin comes home chattering to Mom about how he has to make a desert life diorama in a shoebox for school. Mom, suspicious, asks when the assignment is due. "It was due today, but I told the teacher I wasn't quite finished."
** Calvin once went on an epic flight of fancy. When his mother comes in to see if he's doing his homework, he cheerfully replies: "I've almost started!"

* The ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Mickey's Piano Lesson" has Mickey putting practicing for a piano recital with Minnie to do other things, like eating pie, giving Pluto a bath, going on a picnic, skating the half-pipe and skydiving.

* Chiaki of ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'' often puts off studying for tests; Aoi recounts that this is something she's done all the time with her. That's why she has the worst grades of all the cast despite there're people more ditzy than her.

* ''The Procrastinator'', a 1952 Centron classroom educational film, is the story of chronic procrastinator Jean Nelson, who volunteers to plan a school dance. She's good at planning a party, but not so good at following up on what needs to be done: she almost fails to reserve the gymnasium in time, she doesn't assign the bringing of refreshments until the day before the party (forcing some of the kids' mothers to stay home from work in order to prepare the food), and she doesn't buy the crepe paper she needs until the day ''of'' the party, arriving late to boot and with not nearly enough crepe paper. The film ends with the dance ruined and Jean herself the recipient of a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Speech]] from one angry classmate.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS3E4SelfieImprovementNoPlaceLikeHomeschool No Place Like Homeschool]]", Lincoln and eight of his sisters ask to be homeschooled because they are jealous that Lola gets to be homeschooled during her pageant season. However, they soon find out that they have tests they need to study for if they want to stay homeschooled. Despite multiple warnings not to goof off from Lola, that's exactly what they do instead of studying for their tests, resulting in Lola having to help them at the last minute.
* Billy from ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' may be the reigning champ. In one episode, his class was supposed to write a book report. The next day, when the assignment is due, Billy is revealed to be the only one who didn't work on it. Grim decides to help him out by sending him into the future when he does finally finish it, so he can take it back and turn it in. We end up seeing that Billy is an old man by the time he's done. It ends up not mattering as the young Billy, instead of taking it back, [[WhatAnIdiot deliberately destroys it because he thinks it's funny.]]

* Another T-shirt reads "Top Ten Reasons I Procrastinate: 1) " [[DontExplainTheJoke 'Cause it never finishes the list]].

* ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'': Sana's mother Misako treats deadlines as mere guideline and makes cruel fun of her editor.

* The release date for anything new for either ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' and ''[[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes CityOfVillains]]''? "Soon." A minor meme on some forums (particularly Blizzard and Valve) is pretending that the word "soon" is [[TradeSnark copyrighted]], because they use it so dang much.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Creator/JRRTolkien was rather guilty of this. A number of potential academic collaborations ended up going nowhere. He once predicted in 1937 he'd have ''[[ Literature/TheLordOfTheRings the Hobbit sequel]]'' finished by spring next year. It would not be completed until 1949 with the appendixes still being edited in 1955 and a proposed index of names never finished. In Tolkien's case it was less because he delayed and more because he got sidetracked by new ideas and avenues of exploration instead of focusing on the main point. Literature/TheSilmarillion was never finished in his lifetime as he kept tinkering with the underlying philosophy and core concepts until his death.

* ''Franchise/ArchieComics'':

* ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'': Sana's mother Misako treats deadlines as mere guide line and makes cruel fun of her editor.

** [[HypoCrite For all that she complains about the constant procrastination of most of her family,]] whenever she is free and clear to work Andy Fox will sit around watching soap operas and talk shows or whatever else she needs to do to avoid working on the column she's supposed to be writing. The only time she does do her work is when she's trying to avoid something even more unpleasant, such as playing chess with Roger.

* There's a story about a rabbi who orders a pair of trousers from a tailor while on a trip, but has to leave the town again before the tailor's finished them. Six years later, he coincidentally travels to the town again, where he runs into the tailor, who happily tells him that he just finished the trousers.

* In several stories of Creator/EphraimKishon, several artisans: one plumber, one painter and the most JustForFun/{{egregious}} example would be a carpenter who once promised to make him a table in a few weeks, and delivered after years.

* ''Series/GrowingPains'': A Season 4 episode, "Nasty Habits," sees Mike put off writing an important term paper until the night before it is due. Everything distracts him – even the then-brand new song "Could've Been" by teen pop singer Tiffany. (The episode aired in December 1987, just as the song was starting to climb the charts.)

* The first episode of ''Series/BlackBooks'' features Bernard doing this to avoid doing his taxes. He lets in a pair of door to door evangelists, phones his mother, and then tries to get himself seriously injured to get an exemption.

* An episode of ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' dealt with Procrastionation. Ned and Moze make a bet that Ned won't finish his social studies project on time because he'll procrastinate like he always does. This almost comes true until Ned learns that he can use his procrastination as a way to motivate himself, allowing him to complete his project and get a passing grade. Unfortunately, Moze loses the bet since she put off learning her dutch clog dance due to wanting to avoid wearing a pair of painful wooden shoes.

* ''Radio/BleakExpectations'': Despite being a purportedly brilliant novelist, Pip Bin runs into this trope in the fifth series, after getting into a "novel-off" with Charles Dickens (actually his arch-nemesis in disguise). Pip spends most of the allotted year drinking coffee, reading the encyclopaedia, drinking more coffee, staring forlornly out of hotel windows, having several dozen more coffees, and doing nothing in particular. Meanwhile, his best friend, sister and wife all manage to write their own novels, with the later two becoming instantly famous for what they've written (a cookery book and a sordid romance novel called ''Fifty Shades of Hay''). Eventually, Pip just decides to steal his best friend's attempt.

** Inverted when Ned Flanders begins preparing his taxes ''after midnight on New Year's Day''. Played straight with everyone else in Springfield, who only start filing their taxes at the last minute before deadline, and the reason Homer's whole dilemma occurs is because he was the one who waited the most out of the whole city (rushingly bundling all of his badly-filled forms into a bundle shaped like a football (which made it roll into the audit bin at the IRS) and actually having to toss it into the outgoing mail pile through the closing office's doors).

* If you are reading Wiki/TVTropes right now, odds are you're procrastinating. TruthInTelevision if there ever was such a thing. In fact, most [[PotHole Pot Holes]] to RidiculousProcrastinator are not from example pages, or character pages, but from Troper pages. (Bonus points if you are reading this page to procrastinate.) To try and get over it, put on a classic rock album and make your own HardWorkMontage. Music/{{U2}}, Music/JethroTull, and Music/{{Styx}} are good options. [[DoubleSubversion And then listen to it while browsing TVTropes]].

* Creator/DouglasAdams: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by". The reason the first ''[[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1 Hitchhiker's]]'' book ends where it does is because at that point his editor lost patience with all the missed deadlines and told him to just finish the page he was on. According to ''The Salmon of Doubt'', he once took an impromptu trip to Australia to comparatively test-drive a new underwater vehicle and a sting ray for an article so that he could procrastinate on another one. Similarly, he once hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro -- spending a part of a trip in a rhino suit -- for similar purposes (though that was also for charity.) During the writing of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'' he was locked in his hotel room by his editor and was only allowed out for the occasional walk.

* The cardinals electing UsefulNotes/ThePope used to be this. The record goes to the election of Gregorius X, that took ''almost three years'' (1006 days to be exact. Partially {{Justified}} by the fierce political divisions between pro-French and pro-Empire cardinals ''and'' the first two compromise candidates refusing by means of [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away from the city]], but even then the cardinals did not meet every day), and would have taken more time had the people of Viterbo (the place where the cardinals had congregated) not decided that enough was enough and locked them in the Palazzo dei Papi ("Palace of the Popes"), [[DeniedFoodAsPunishment denied them food other than bread and water]], and finally ''removed the roof'' -- to say nothing of the political pressure and outright ''threats'' the crowned heads of Europe used to "convince" the cardinals to just hurry up and ''decide'' already. That election will ''always'' hold the record because [[GenreSavvy Gregorius X put into law the means the people of Viterbo used to hurry up the cardinals]] (besides the removing the roof bit -- which was too expensive -- and the political pressure -- which he couldn't control but could rely on anyway, replacing them with a confiscation of whatever income they were supposed to receive during the election).
** Gregorius's law was suspended by Adrian V due to the need for closing loopholes and he died before he could do so, and his successor outright revoked it due to the opposition of the cardinals. Then, at the death of Nicholas IV, it took the cardinals ''two years'' before they settled on the guy who was screaming at them the most for the procrastination, and the new pope Celestine V (who had been a collaborator of Gregorius) promptly reinstated the Conclave, with his successor Boniface VIII (another friend of Gregorius) made sure it couldn't abolished.

* ADHD comes with executive dysfunction which can cause people with the condition to put off tasks, even tasks they enjoy and have no reason not to actively just do, and often times simply forget to do it. However, it's not always quite the same as active procrastination, as the issue isn't that the sufferer actively puts off the task (though they may or may not also do that) but rather that they simply can't get themselves started on the task no matter how much they try. Still, to an outsider it can look like this.