顧此失彼 gù cǐ shī bǐ

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. to attend to one thing and lose sight of another (idiom)
  2. fig. to be unable to manage two or more things at once
  3. cannot pay attention to one thing without neglecting the other

CHARACTERS

顧 gù look back; look at; look after
此 cǐ
HSK 4
this, these; in this case, then
失 shī
HSK 4
lose; make mistake, neglect
彼 bǐ
HSK 5
that, there, those