have (an amount of) plates spinning

have (an amount of) plates spinning

To have a number of different activities in progress; to deal with or oversee a several different things at once. Rather than focusing on a single project, Tara prefers to have a number of plates spinning at once. I'm not surprised he's so burnt out—he had way too many plates spinning at the same time. You can't have all these plates spinning by yourself and expect to stay successful for long—you need to delegate some of these tasks to lower management.
See also: amount, have, plate, spinning
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • keep (an amount of) balls in the air
  • keep (an amount of) plates spinning
  • keep all the plates spinning
  • keep balls in the air
  • spinning
  • left, right and centre
  • left, right, and center
  • left, right, and centre
  • ride off in all directions
  • different strokes (for different folks)