Death by 1000 cuts refers to an ancient method of torture in which numerous small cuts were made on a victim's body. None of the cuts were deadly by themselves, but the combination of them would cause them to die a slow, painful death. In psychology, it refers to small issues that are overlooked until they add up to something too big to ignore. Sometimes I question which version of the phrase is worse.

A dilly-dally poet finds himself gradually transforming into a cocoon hours before his deadline.