Считать ворон (Schitat' voron)

Literally: To count crows

Example: “Вместо подготовки он весь месяц считал ворон.” — Instead of preparing, he let the grass grow under his feet all month.

English equivalent: To let the grass grow under one's feet

Origin: Crows are everywhere and of no interest, so anyone counting them is gazing about instead of paying attention. Fedorov's phrase dictionary gives two senses, being absent-minded and idling, with examples from Chekhov and from the novelist Ignaty Potapenko, whose narrator explains that for his mother "counting crows" meant gawking around. No particular story lies behind it.