时差N小时 手边有很多事情

When people go out to a restaurant, some prefer a buffet-style eating place, where you can go back to the food serving tables many times and take lots to eat or drink with no restrictions¹. The problem, of course, is that diners in these places tend to overeat. And if you don't eat everything on your plate, you may feel guilty about wasting food.

人们外出就餐时，有些人喜欢自助餐。在那里你可以取很多食物和饮料，然后大吃特喝，不受任何限制。这当然会出现一个问题，就是这些吃自助餐的人往往会吃得过饱。如果你不把盘子里的东西吃干净，你可能会因浪费食物而感到内疚。

Now imagine that your plate is not real, but only your mind, and that all the food on it means all the work you have to do that consumes² your time. Sometimes, we may feel like we have too many items "on our plate" in our mind. Then we may feel a bit guilty telling friends, "Sorry, I am so busy just now that I can't see you. I simply have too much on my plate." Of course, in this case we mean too much to do, not too much to eat.

现在想象一下，你的盘子不是真实的盘子，而是你的大脑。它里面装的当然不是食物，而是所有你必须做的工作。这些工作会占用你时间。有时我们可能会觉得我们脑海中萦绕着太多需要处理的工作，然后我们可能会有点内疚地告诉朋友：“对不起，我不能和你见面了，因为我手头的事太多了。”当然，在这种情况下，这个习语的意思是指你需要使劲地工作，而不是使劲地吃东西。

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 consumes   

v.消耗( consume的第三人称单数 )；烧毁；大吃；使充满（强烈的感情）

参考例句：

• The electricity industry consumes large amounts of fossil fuels. 电力工业消耗大量的矿物燃料。
• An electric heater consumes too much electricity. 电热器用电太费。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》