History Main / RidiculousProcrastinator

* The horror author T.E.D. Klein has admitted to absolutely ''hating'' writing to the point he decided he preferred working a 9-5 job. He started his second novel, ''Nighttown'', in the eighties, and hopes to finish it now that he's reached retirement age.

->''"Bart, you had three months to do this project and you started thirty seconds ago!"''

Procrastination is the putting off of an unpleasant task until the last minute. It's [[TruthInTelevision quite common]]. Hell, [[JustForFun/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. They will put off writing a 10,000-word paper until the night before it is due, and once they sit 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, they will find that the assignment practically writes itself once he gets going.

* The ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio play "The Kingmaker" involves the Fifth Doctor being attacked by a time-travelling killer robot owned by a publishing company, there to force him to write a children's book he was contractually obligated to finish by threatening to kill him if he doesn't. The Doctor admits to having run off with his advance and done very little work, but claims to enjoy writing, saying he was just struggling to get on with it. We only realise just ''how'' bad he's been at getting on with it when he goes to replay his voice notes from the last time he worked on it, and [[TheNthDoctor his voice sounds significantly deeper and more Tom Baker-y]]. Peri comments on this, but he tells her that "your voice always sounds different on tape".

** Another comic had Archie continuously putting off writing a paper due the next day, on any topic of his choosing. After putting off the paper for pointless distractions like putting up pictures of Betty and Veronica, playing with his old train in the attic, going for snacks, etc. he wakes up the next morning and writes a paper about the ways teenagers put off doing their homework.
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Mister Manta has been marooned on a deserted island for decades. He vows to return to civilization and resume his life of crime, but keeps putting it off to improve his [[BambooTechnology makeshift gear and weapons]]. In reality, he could leave if his gear was [[DoWellButNotPerfect good enough to reach the mainland,]] but deep down he enjoys being TheHermit.

** In one story, he's given two weeks to collect fifty different leaves for a school project, but he outright refuses to work on it until late into the evening before the day it's due. [[NeverMyFault He then gets mad at his mom for not taking him to the arboretum twenty minutes before it closes, while she's busy preparing dinner]], and when he gets the chance the pawn the project off to a pair of aliens, [[ObliviousToHisOwnDescription gets upset at them for arriving at the very last minute late at night]].
** Another story arc had Calvin wake up from a nightmare and realizing he forgot to do his math homework. He's saved by a snow day, but rather than do his homework, he goes out and plays the whole day, and only laments the wasted opportunity at bedtime. He's saved yet again the next day when the teacher forgets to collect the homework, but goes out to play ''again'' instead of touching his homework.

** Jason, being a massive nerd, is an inversion. He loves schoolwork so much he once finished his exams early -- in September. Another time, he waited until the last minute, literally, to begin an exam, saying he liked the challenge.
** [[{{Hypocrite}} For all that she complains about the constant procrastination of most of her family]], whenever ''she's'' free and clear to work, Andy Fox will usually either just sit around and watch TV (usually talk shows and soap operas) or do whatever else she needs to do to avoid working on the column she's supposed to be writing. Pretty much 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.

* In ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' series, Zoey and her friends pull this off to a ridiculous extent. They'll plan pretty early on what they ''want'' to do, but will be so distracted by going to the movies or flirting with cute boys or whatever else that they won't actually ''do'' it until the book's almost over. In several cases, upon being presented with clear evidence that something's out of the ordinary, Zoey flat-out states that it's too freaky/stressful and she'll put it out of mind. This is especially bad in ''Chosen'', where Zoey spends the entire book agonizing over how to [[spoiler:heal the undead Stevie Rae]], only for Aphrodite to come up with an answer in one sentence in the last few chapters: [[spoiler:use a variant of a basic healing ritual that any vampire knows about.]] And it ''works''.

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Basil often procrastinates about mundane things which need to be done, leading to frequent nagging from Sybil.

* Possibly also this trope (among other reasons) for the famous [[DevelopmentHell non-vapor]] {{Vaporware}} ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'', as when Gearbox Software took over the game was completed and released suspiciously fast. It was said during an interview all Gearbox did is basically just tying up loose ends and bugs to complete what is already an almost complete game.

* ''WebVideo/HardlyWorking'' plays this for laughs for an entire sketch, where Grant and Raph procrastinate to a ''ridiculous'' degree. This includes Raph getting his hand out of a cement block, finding a new pair of pants and killing his evil twin, and Grant getting his leg out of a bear trap, exorcising one of the Eight Kings of Hell, throwing a pagan idol into the sea, and, of course...

** Lisa decides to write a novel, and do absolutely anything she could to avoid actually writing.

-->'''Mrs. Krabappel:''' Bart, you've had three months to complete this project and you started thirty seconds ago.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E20TheTroubleWithTrillions The Trouble with Trillions]]": 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 that 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).

* 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. During the radio series, the cast were sometimes being handed just-finished script pages immediately before (or ''during'') recording.
* 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.

* Creator/AkiraToriyama admits to and was hated by his editors for this when writing ''Manga/DragonBall'' procrastinating all of his work for the week by watching TV or making models until the last two days when he'd suddenly realize he had to draw and ink that week's issue and write the next storyboard. Oddly enough other mangakas saw him as a prodigy for being able to do a week's worth of work in a day or two and with the end result being so damn good to boot. Especially since he didn't plan out any of the story in advance and [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants made it up as he went]].

* 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.
* Autistic inertia is a widely reported but scarcely researched[[note]]the first scientific study on it was conducted in 2021[[/note]] phenomenon among autistic individuals in which they find it difficult to start, stop, or switch tasks, even if it involves switching to one that they actively enjoy. Like executive dysfunction in ADHD, the phenomenon is not synonymous with active procrastination, but is rather the result of a brain-body disconnect present across multiple aspects of autism. However, it can look like this to an outsider, especially since the lack of formal documentation means that most allistic people (and even some autistic people) aren't even aware that it exists.
* Excessive procrastination may be a symptom of depression for some sufferers, as depression is notorious for causing sufferers to lose interest in things they once enjoyed or were active in. Unfortunately, it's one of the most commonly overlooked symptoms because to someone unfamiliar with depression, it comes off as pure laziness. It's not so much they're trying to procrastinate as it is they simply don't have the energy.

* In ''The Cheese Monkeys'' the last chapter had this where Happy and his classmates verge on insanity only to find that their professor has been fired and they've been awake for five days for no reason.

* In the ''Literature/HouseOfNight'' series, Zoey and her friends pull this off to a ridiculous extent. They'll plan pretty early on what they ''want'' to do, but will be so distracted by going to the movies or flirting with cute boys or whatever else that they won't actually ''do'' it until the book's almost over. In several cases, upon being presented with clear evidence that something's out of the ordinary, Zoey flat-out states that it's too freaky/stressful and she'll put it out of mind. This is especially bad in ''Chosen'', where Zoey spends the entire book agonizing over how to [[spoiler:heal the undead Stevie Rae]], only for Aphrodite to come up with an answer in one sentence in the last few chapters: [[spoiler:use a variant of a basic healing ritual that any vampire knows about.]] And it ''works''.

* 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|Trope}} 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 is the putting off of an unpleasant task until the last minute. It's [[TruthInTelevision quite common]]. Hell, [[JustForFun/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.