time burglar

plural time burglars

1. idiomaticinformalSomething or someone that consumes an inordinate amount of time, especially without achieving anything productive.

   Being a social climber was more of a time burglar than having a ghost twin sister.

   2013, Sandra Thompson, The Ghostly Grammar Boy, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Hey, TV can be a great source of learning, information, and keeping your kids occupied, but if your priorities are shifting and you want to grow out of your current life and into a new one, it's a time burglar […]

   2012, Nick O'Kelly, Patrick Schulte, Live on the Margin: Learn to Love Risk, Profit from Fear, and Retire Tomorrow, Two Old Goats Publishing, →ISBN

   That's when it hits me that Brunswick is a time burglar. Specifically, she's stealing my time with her inane questions and now she is my nemesis.

   2015, Jen Lancaster, I Regret Nothing: A Memoir, New American Library, →ISBN

   Synonyms: time bandit, time thief