American English

kill time

kill ˈtime | kill an ˈhour, a couple of ˈhours, etc. idiom

to spend time doing sth that is not important while you are waiting for sth else to happen

• We killed time playing cards.

time flies

time ˈflies idiom
(saying) time seems to pass very quickly
• How time flies! I've got to go now.

• Time has flown since the holiday began. This phrase is a translation of the Latin ‘tempus fugit’.

around the clock

around/round the ˈclock idiom

all day and all night without stopping

verb   [prəˈɡres]  ;   [prəˈɡres]
1. intransitive to improve or develop over a period of time; to make progress
Syn:  advance
• The course allows students to progress at their own speed.

• Work on the new road is progressing slowly.

2. intransitive + adv./prep. (formal) to move forward
• The line of traffic progressed slowly through the town.

• (figurative) Cases can take months to progress through the courts.

3. intransitive to go forward in time
Syn:  go on
• The weather became colder as the day progressed.
 
Word Origin:
late Middle English (as a noun): from Latin progressus ‘an advance’, from the verb progredi, from pro- ‘forward’ + gradi ‘to walk’. The verb became obsolete in British English use at the end of the 17th cent. and was readopted from American English in the early 19th cent.  
Thesaurus:
progress verb I
• Students progress at their own speed.
develop • • advance • • move • |informal come along/on • |especially journalism shape up •
progress/develop/move from/to sth
progress/develop/advance/move towards/beyond sth
a war/campaign progresses/develops 
Example Bank:
• He felt he still needed to progress further in his learning.
• Samir failed to progress beyond this first step on the ladder.
• She soon progressed from the basics to more difficult work.
• Students progress through the stages of the course.
• The talks are progressing very well.
• The work is progressing quite slowly.
• They are anxious to progress with the plan.
• his ambition to progress up the career ladder
• progressing rapidly in his chosen career
• slowly progressing towards a new kind of art
• to progress rapidly in your career
• to progress towards/toward a new kind of art

• The visiting team's confidence increased as the game progressed.

prioritize

pri·ori·tize AW (BrE also -ise) [prioritize prioritizes prioritized prioritizing]   [praɪˈɒrətaɪz]    [praɪˈɔːrətaɪz]  verb
1. transitive, intransitive ~ (sth) to put tasks, problems, etc. in order of importance, so that you can deal with the most important first

• You should make a list of all the jobs you have to do and prioritize them.

2. transitive ~ sth (formal) to treat sth as being more important than other things

• The organization was formed to prioritize the needs of older people.

declutter

declutter 8 [declutter] (also de-clutter)  [diːˈklʌtə(r)]    [diːˈklʌtər]  verb intransitive, transitive
to remove things that you do not use so that you have more space and can easily find things when you need them
• Moving is a good opportunity to declutter.
• ~ sth a 7-step plan to help you declutter your home
• Declutter one room at a time.
• She helps people declutter their schedules, houses, and minds.

multitasking

multi·tasking f58 [multitasking]   [ˌmʌltiˈtɑːskɪŋ]    [ˌmʌltiˈtæskɪŋ]  noun uncountable

1. (computing) the ability of a computer to operate several programs at the same time

2. the ability to do several things at the same time

procrastinate

pro·cras·tin·ate [procrastinate procrastinates procrastinated procrastinating]   [prəʊˈkræstɪneɪt]    [proʊˈkræstɪneɪt]  verb intransitive (formal, disapproving)
to delay doing sth that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it
• People were dying of starvation while governments procrastinated.
Derived Word: procrastination
 
Word Origin:

late 16th cent.: from Latin procrastinat- ‘deferred till the morning’, from the verb procrastinare, from pro- ‘forward’ + crastinus ‘belonging to tomorrow’ (from cras ‘tomorrow’).

verb
1. usually passive to arrange for sth to happen at a particular time
• ~ sth (for sth) The meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
• One of the scheduled events is a talk on alternative medicine.
• We'll be stopping here for longer than scheduled.

• ~ sb/sth to do sth I'm scheduled to arrive in LA at 5 o'clock.

2. ~ sth (as sth) (formal) to include sth in an official list of things
• The substance has been scheduled as a poison.
 
Word Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘scroll, explanatory note, appendix’): from Old French cedule, from late Latin schedula ‘slip of paper’, diminutive of scheda, from Greek skhedē ‘papyrus leaf’. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.  
Thesaurus:
schedule verb T, usually passive
• The meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
set • • fix • • time • • book • • set sth up • • line sb/sth up • |especially BrE timetable •
schedule/set/fix/time/book/set up/line up/timetable sth for sth
schedule/set/fix/time/book/set up/line up/timetable sb/sth to do sth
schedule/set/fix/time/set up/timetable a meeting
schedule/set/fix/book a time/date/day  
Example Bank:
• The Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on July 4.
• The film is scheduled for release next month.
• The meeting was originally scheduled for March 12.
• Filming is scheduled to begin in May.
• I'll try to schedule you in next week.
• It was originally scheduled for July 16.
• No regular classes were scheduled on Wednesdays.

• We'll be stopping here for longer than scheduled.