How to Write Songs About Procrastination

You keep opening a blank document and closing it to scroll social media. You have ideas, melodies, a notebook with half a chorus and a receipt for pizza you forgot you bought while avoiding writing. Procrastination is the only unavoidable human condition that also makes great songs. It is petty, dramatic, funny, tragic, and very relatable. That is songwriting gold.

This guide will turn your procrastination into an honest, funny, and memorable song. We will cover emotional focus, angles and hooks, lyrical devices, real life scenarios that land as concrete images, melody and rhythm ideas, production directions for mood, structure templates you can steal, exercises to force a finish, and the finishing workflow that stops edits from becoming eternal. Every technical term or acronym appears with a short explanation so nothing feels secret or elite.

Why write about procrastination

Because it is universal. Your audience has a glitched relationship with distraction. Millennials and Gen Z grew up with snackable dopamine hits and the illusion of infinite time. That fuels both comedy and pain. Songs about procrastination can be self deprecating and wise at the same time. They can be confessions, threats, promises, or elaborate excuses. And listeners will nod, laugh, and text the chorus to a friend at 2 a.m.

Procrastination works as subject matter for several reasons.

• Relatability The scene of someone avoiding a task is instantly recognizable. You do not need a long setup.
• Humor potential Small absurd details land hard. A laundry basket becomes a character. A plugged in phone becomes a betrayal.
• Emotional range It moves from lazy to guilty to terrified to victorious in a single verse.
• Lyric flexibility You can be literal about tasks or allegorical about avoidance. Both work.

Find the core emotional promise

Every strong song has one promise that it keeps. For procrastination songs the promise can be any of these.

• I am avoiding because I am afraid to fail.
• I am avoiding because I am waiting for the right mood to strike.
• I am avoiding because I am practicing self preservation from burnout.
• I am avoiding because I will always prefer snacks and shame.

Write one sentence that states that promise like you are confessing to your best friend at 3 a.m. Make it short and specific. Examples you can borrow.

• I will do it tomorrow but tomorrow keeps getting woke up.
• I have drafts in drawers that are ashamed to be called songs.
• I fold shirts like I am folding time into tiny paper boats.

Turn that sentence into your title or into the emotional center of your chorus. The rest of the song orbits this promise.

Pick a narrative angle

Procrastination can be a character, a habit, a relationship, or a landscape. Pick one clear angle per song so your listener does not need a map. Here are reliable angles with examples and scenarios you can use immediately.

The personal confession

First person. Honest and small. This angle turns the narrator into a lovable mess. Imagine a singer admitting to their neighbor that the rent is late because they perfected a playlist of sad videos. Lines are tiny scenes. Real life scenario: You tell your roommate you will pay them back and then watch one more series of videos about making tiny candles.

The argument with time

Personify time and make it a foil. Time becomes an ex, a landlord, or an annoying notification named Tina. Real life scenario: You swap texts with the clock like it owes you emotional labor. That back and forth becomes lyric fodder.

The absurdist parody

Treat procrastination as if it were majestic. Turn chores into epic quests. Real life scenario: You narrate folding socks like it is a war film with a triumphant brass line.

The reclaimed self care take

Defend procrastination as necessary recovery. This is the grown up mode. Real life scenario: You have been grinding for three weeks. The song says listing to the rain is a health plan. Keep it tender and slightly indignant.

The litany of failed attempts

List details that escalate from small to catastrophic. Real life scenario: You willfully ignore emails, then ignore phone calls, then avoid your own birthday party because organizing felt like a trap. The list becomes a joke then a confession.

Choose the musical mood

Procrastination can be funny or devastating. Choose the mood early so melodies and production follow. Here are mood templates with instrument and tempo ideas.

• Layabout indie Use acoustic guitar or clean electric, sparse drums, moderate tempo, intimate vocal. Think lazy swing and conversational lines.
• Dreamy bedroom pop Use warm synths, soft pads, low drums, reverb soaked vocals, mid tempo. Use for wistful avoidance and romanticized stall tactics.
• Punchy pop punk Use loud guitars, fast tempo, shouted chorus. Use this for anger at yourself and fast lists of failures.
• Electro comedy Use tight beats, sampled effects, comedic vocal chops. Use staccato rhythms to mimic nervous energy.

Explain BPM and DAW quickly for clarity. BPM means beats per minute. This tells you how fast the song is. DAW means digital audio workstation. That is your software where you record and arrange the track. Examples of DAWs include Ableton Live and Logic Pro. Both names are tools not secret magic.

Structure ideas that land listeners

Procrastination songs do well with structures that allow a payoff or twist. Here are three tried and true forms.

Classic pop

Verse, pre chorus, chorus, verse, pre chorus, chorus, bridge, final chorus. Use this if your chorus is an obvious confession that listeners will sing back. Keep the chorus short. Repeat the title and let the post chorus be a snarky tag like I will do it tomorrow I mean really.

Story curve

Verse one sets the habit. Verse two raises stakes. Chorus is the internal promise. Bridge is either surrender or victory. Use this if you want a narrative progression from procrastination to decision or to safe self sabotage.

Loop comedy

Intro hook, chorus early, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, breakdown, chorus. Hit the chorus fast. Comedy works with repetition. Early hook anchors the joke.

Chorus approach

The chorus should state the emotional promise plainly. Choose a line that listeners can text to a friend. Keep it short. Use ring phrase technique. Ring phrase means start and end the chorus with the same short title phrase so memory anchors. For a procrastination song the chorus could be both confession and defense.

Examples of chorus hooks

• I will do it tomorrow I have a whole plan tomorrow
• My bed is a job offer I can never refuse
• I tell myself five more minutes and then the world ends

Place the chorus title on a long note or on the downbeat so it feels inevitable. If you are writing on a melody first, try the vowel trick. Vowel trick means sing on long vowels like oh ah and ay to find a catchy melody. Long vowels are easier to hear and sing along with.

Verses with concrete images

Verses must show not tell. Avoid abstract language. Replace words like stress and anxiety with a sticky note, a leftover takeout box, a blinking cursor, a plant that now has an opinion. Use time crumbs. Time crumb means a tiny timestamp that grounds the scene like Tuesday at three or midnight with the oven on. These details make procrastination specific and funny.

Before and after lines

Before I feel so anxious about getting started.

After I make a playlist called Do Not Start and listen to it in the dark.

Write three little camera shots per verse line. Camera shot means imagine one image for each line. If you cannot, rewrite that line until an image appears.

Lyric devices that work for procrastination

Mix these devices into your verses and chorus to give emotional variety.

List escalation

Start with small avoidance like scrolling. Add bigger guilt like ignoring calls. End with dramatic absurdity like naming your mailman a co conspirator. This builds comedy and stakes.

Personification

Give procrastination a voice or make your to do list sound like a passive aggressive ex. Personification makes abstract guilt funny and tangible.

Callback

Bring a small line from verse one back in verse two or the bridge. The listener hears return and feels progression. For example mention the ketchup stained napkin early and then in the bridge show it saved you from doing the thing and now it is a relic of soft victory.

Internal rhyme and consonance

Short, rapid lines with internal rhyme mimic nervous avoidance. Use consonance like click clutch clock to make lines feel like fidgeting.

Rhyme choices and prosody

Prosody means matching natural speech stress to musical beats. Do this check early. Speak each lyric line out loud at conversation speed. Circle the stressed syllables. Those should land on stronger beats or longer notes. If a strong word lands on a weak beat the line will feel off even if it looks clever.

Rhyme choices: Use family rhymes and half rhymes. Too many perfect rhymes sounds juvenile. Family rhyme means similar vowel or consonant families but not exact copy of ending. Examples: later, layer, labor. Use one perfect rhyme at the emotional payoff line for extra punch.

Melody tips that sell the joke

• Keep verses conversational with narrow range. Let the chorus open up into a wider range for relief.
• Use a small leap into the main title line. The leap creates emphasis. Follow the leap with stepwise motion to land gently.
• For comedic timing use a tiny pause before the title like a beat of silence. Silence makes the listener lean in. This is about tension and release.
• If you want a wistful tone, keep instruments soft and give the vocal breathy textures. If you want comedic, tighten the vocal rhythm and add percussive consonants.

Production choices for mood

Production sells the lyric. The same words sung over different sounds shift from apology to anthem. Here are quick production recipes for common moods.

Lazy anthem

• Warm bass, sampled claps, minimal synth pad.
• Auto tune used as texture not correction. Explain autotune: Auto tune is a pitch correction tool often used for effect.
• Leave small spaces in the beat so the vocal can pull against silence.

Comedic electro

• Snappy drum machine, quirky sound effects like microwave ding and phone buzz, vocal chops that repeat the title.
• Sidechain the pad to the kick to create breathing movement. Sidechain means lowering the volume of one sound when another plays to create rhythmic pumping.

Intimate confession

• Dry vocal, acoustic guitar, light reverb, room noise in the intro for authenticity.
• Mic technique matters. A closer mic capture makes the story feel like a whisper. Use slight compression to make the voice steady.

Bridge ideas that change perspective

The bridge is the place to move from repeating habit to insight or a flip of the joke. Here are three bridge strategies.

• Moment of honesty Admit the fear that drives procrastination. Make this line the only serious line in an otherwise jokey song.
• Flip the joke Reveal the narrator actually loves the avoidance for its own rituals. That makes the whole song softer and weirder.
• Victory lap The narrator finally starts the task and finds the feeling small. Use a one line twist then return to chorus with a new line added for the payoff.

Practical exercises to force a finish

Procrastinators love exercises because they promise structure without commitment. Use these timed drills to produce material and close the loop on the song. Set a timer on your phone. Yes that same phone that is the protagonist of many of these songs.

Twenty minute chorus

Set a timer for twenty minutes. Ignore everything else. Write one chorus and two alternate lines for the last chorus repeat. Do not change the chorus again. That restriction forces clarity.

The object rule

Pick one object in your room. Every line in the next eight lines must include it. The object becomes a metaphor. Example objects: a mug, a hoodie, a charger.

The terrible first draft

Write the worst chorus you can imagine for ten minutes. Then rewrite it once for clarity. The badness frees you. The rewrite often contains gems.

Micro demo

Record a five minute demo in your DAW. Use one mic, one instrument, and your voice. No editing. Upload it to a private folder. Send the link to one honest friend with one question: Which line stuck with you. Use that answer to guide the revision.

Avoid these common mistakes

• Too many metaphors Pick one dominant metaphor and stick with it. If laundry is your metaphor, do not switch to ocean imagery in the same verse.
• Abstract confessions Avoid lines that say I feel bad. Replace them with images like a couch imprint shaped like regret.
• List without arc If you list failures make each item escalate. Otherwise the list is just a text thread.
• Over polishing the joke Leave room for awkwardness. Imperfection often equals authenticity when the topic is procrastination.

Real life lyrical examples you can model

Use these templates and rewrite each with your details. Replace the bracketed details with specific items from your life.

Template one

Verse The sink has dishes like a small modern art exhibit. I tell myself I will start after one episode. The episode turns into a festival.

Pre chorus My to do list turns into a novel of things I will not write. I am an editor of my own excuses.

Chorus I will do it tomorrow is a religion in this apartment. I have a membership card and a name tag.

Template two

Verse I organize my playlist by mood before I pretend to be productive. The playlist is called Work But Not Today. I steam the same shirt twice for practice.

Chorus My bed is a job offer and I have accepted the title. Benefits include naps and small regrets.

Template three

Verse The cursor blinks accusatory. I answer with three more tabs and a video about how to boil an egg. The egg outlasts my attention span.

Bridge I am terrified of starting because starting paints a future I must be responsible for. For now I am an excellent spectator of my life.

Finish the song workflow

1. Write the chorus and lock the title. Do not change the title after you record a demo.
2. Draft verse one with three concrete images and a time crumb. Use the object rule if stuck.
3. Draft verse two to raise stakes. Add a small callback from verse one for cohesion.
4. Write a bridge that shifts perspective. Decide if it will be honest or jokey.
5. Record a rough demo. One mic, one instrument, one pass. Upload and get one line feedback.
6. Run the crime scene edit. Replace abstract words with concrete images. Remove duplicate information.
7. Mood check. Does the production match your chosen mood? Make minor tweaks not rewrites.
8. Ship. Release a version and call it the version you meant to make in the first place.

Explain EQ briefly. EQ means equalization. It is a tool that shapes the tone of a sound by boosting or cutting frequency ranges. Use gentle cuts to remove mud under 200 Hz on a vocal region that does not need bass. Use a small boost around 3 kHz to add presence. These are starting points not laws.

Prompts you can use right now

• Write a chorus that starts with I will do it tomorrow and ends with a joke about your pet judge.
• Describe five things you did instead of working in the last week. Turn each thing into one line and order them by how ridiculous they are.
• Choose one object and write a verse where it performs the song's main action. Example object: plant that now has a bucket hat.
• Record a demo where you whisper the first verse. Then sing the chorus with power. The contrast sells the confession.

Frequently asked questions

Can a song about procrastination be serious

Yes. Procrastination has emotional roots like fear of failure burnout and grief. A song can be tender and honest while still being witty. The trick is to ground the seriousness in images so the listener feels the weight not the lecture.

How do I turn procrastination into a memorable chorus

Pick one plain line that people can repeat. Make it short. Place it on a strong beat or a long note. Add a small twist on the last repeat. Repeat the chorus early so the joke sticks. Use a ring phrase by opening and ending the chorus with the same title line.

Should I use real names in the lyrics

Sometimes. Real names make songs feel lived in. But they also date the song or make listeners curious. Use a name if it reveals character or if the name has sound value that adds to the melody. Otherwise swap to a detail like the grocery store or a friend with a known habit.

What if my song sounds like an apology not a song

Embrace the apology and make it musical. Turn confessional lines into images. Add rhythm to your phrasing. Make the chorus a clear promise or mock promise. Humor is an excellent glue for confession.

How long should a procrastination song be

Between two minutes and four minutes is a good target. Keep momentum high. If the song is repetitive add a bridge or a new production element to keep attention. Shorter songs can feel sharp and re playable. Longer songs need clear progression.

Can I make a dance song about procrastination

Absolutely. Dance grooves can make the self sabotage feel celebratory. Use a hooky vocal line that repeats the title and a drop that is a tiny moment of honesty. The contrast between dance energy and self critique creates a memorable tension.

Action plan you can use today

1. Write one sentence that states the promise of your song in plain language. Make it short.
2. Pick your angle from the list. Choose one mood and one object for imagery.
3. Set a timer for twenty minutes and write the chorus. Lock it. Do not change it after the demo.
4. Use the object rule to draft verse one and verse two in forty minutes total.
5. Record a micro demo in your DAW. Send it to one honest friend with one question.
6. Run the crime scene edit. Replace abstracts with images. Keep only lines that add new information.
7. Polish prosody by speaking every line and moving stressed syllables to strong beats.
8. Ship the version you made. The real enemy is constant rewriting not the first imperfect release.

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