A phrase for spending time on tasks that add little or no value or progress. It suggests poor use of time, distractions, or procrastination that delay goals and reduce efficiency.
If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality. Benjamin Franklin
Wasting time has an esthetics to it. Fernando Pessoa
It goes without saying that the desire to accomplish the task with more confidence, to avoid wasting time and labour, and to spare our experimental animals as much as possible, made us strictly observe all the precautions taken by surgeons in respect to their patients. Ivan Pavlov
It's bad enough wasting time without killing it. Norton Juster
I do not want to waste any time. And if you are not working on important things, you are wasting time. Dean Kamen
Wasting time is stealing from oneself. Estonian Proverb