British informal to spend time doing unimportant things instead of doing what you should be doing
I wish you'd stop faffing about and do something useful!
faff around
⇨ faff about; faff aroundverb to mess about; to waste time on matters of no importance. An apparent euphemism for FUCK but originally British dialect faffle with the same sense UK, 1874
phrasefaff around faff about/aroundBrE informal to waste time doing unnecessary things, especially when you should be doing something else instead: Have you nearly finished faffing around in the bathroom?We spent the whole morning faffing about trying to find a garage.■ SIMILAR TO: mess around/aboutinformal, fart around/aboutinformal, putz around AmE informal
faff around
To waste time or procrastinate by doing something unproductive or unhelpful; to fool around or spend time idly. Primarily heard in UK. Would you quit faffing around and give me a hand cleaning the house?I should have started this essay last week, but I've been faffing around with my new video game console.