irons in the fire

Etymology
Describing a blacksmith working on several pieces at the same time.

Noun

 * 1) Tasks in progress; involvement in ongoing projects.

Usage notes
May be used with a positive connotation, e.g. "have other irons in the fire" (other projects are available if this one fails), or with a negative connotation, e.g. "too many irons in the fire" (overwhelmed by having too many tasks).

Translations

 * Danish:
 * Finnish: monta rautaa tulessa
 * German: Eisen im Feuer
 * Icelandic: hafa mörg járn í eldinum, vera ekki við eina fjölina felldur, hafa margt í takinu, vasast í mörgu
 * Norwegian Nynorsk: ha mange jarn i elden
 * Polish: zadania