The back burner is the burner in the back of the stove. It doesn’t usually get used so much. So, when you put something on the back burner, something else has a higher priority. This is an idiom we can use in both business and in everyday life:
– I was called in to a meeting by my boss, so my work has to be put on the back burner.
– Sam got so busy travelling for work, he put going to the… gym on the back burner.
Have you put something on the back burner recently?