On the back burner

Burners usually come to mind when we want to cook something. However, it is also a word that is part of an idiom describing lower priority. In a professional context, knowing how to use “on the back burner” is essential for managing expectations, negotiating resources, and demonstrating strategic focus.

In the kitchen, the front burner gets the heat—it’s where you actively stir, simmer, and manage the main dish. The back burner is for the sauce that needs to gently reduce or the side dish that can wait. In business, a project or initiative placed “on the back burner” hasn’t been canceled. It simply isn’t the top priority right now. It’s a deliberate, temporary deprioritization to focus energy where it matters most.

Using this phrase clearly signals that you are making a conscious choice about resource allocation, not that you are being negligent.

Here are five examples of how to use it:

The team placed the expansion project on the back burner due to budget concerns.

The experimental AI feature is on the back burner for now. Our focus this quarter is purely on improving the stability and scalability of our core platform.

We were planning to expand into the European market this spring, but given the currency fluctuations, we’ve put those discussions on the back burner to double down on our North American retention strategy.

What project is currently on your back burner that you’re hoping to revisit later?