How do I express “hope you become less busy” [closed]

Question

I have a friend who works at law firm. I suggested to him to have dinner with my family this weekend but he told me that he just got staffed on an new thing that will have him working through the weekend. I want to tell him that I hope deal he is working on closes soon so that he will become less busy (less assigned work to do). What would be the common expression to use?

Answer 1

Instead of hoping, why not just ask when he thinks he'll be less busy? You can say, for example:

When are you next free? It's a shame we couldn't get together [day], but we should definitely hang out/have dinner/whatever sometime soon!

Hoping can seem passive-aggressive if you could just settle the issue, and that's not remotely what you're aiming for. I hope.

Answer 2

Some possibilities include:

I hope you make short work of the deal.

I hope you don't have so much on your plate next weekend.

I hope your schedule clears up a bit.

On the other hand, you may want to express your desire to see your friend. Just reiterate that you'd love to be able to "catch up when things settle down" or something to that effect. There's no need for a canned phrase to express your heartfelt desire to see your friend. In fact, choosing some generic, greeting-card quote may make you seem insincere or dismissive.

Answer 3

You could say:

I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel.

According to TFD:

light at the end of the tunnel:
something which makes you believe that a difficult or unpleasant situation will end

Idiom Quest says:

light at the end of the tunnel:
impending success after enduring hard work

Typically, the idiom implies that the work has been grueling to this point, but the end of that work will arrive soon (much like if you had been digging a long tunnel, and you begin to see daylight peak through the dirt - you're almost done digging!)

Example usage:

Ned: Man, it's been a hard week!
Ted: Yes, but tomorrow's Friday. There's light at the end of the tunnel!