TLDR at bottom:

So I’ve been RP’d for a little over a year now and everything is going well. SMV is relatively high but can always improve obviously. No problem getting and spinning plates. So at the current moment I have around 8 hard plates and am working on a couple others.

Sounds good right? Well here’s the problem. I am not very good at managing them. Over the time I’ve been RP’d I have lost some plates because they get upset that I am unable to make a lot of time for them because (not known to them) I’m spreading my time out amongst others. The plates I usually lose are the higher value ones and I’d rather not have that happen.

So when these plates ask me to hangout how do I tell them no without getting them all bent out of shape? Right now I just say “Sorry, can’t. I’m busy. I’ll let you know when I’m free.” And leave it at that. I know what you’re thinking, “Why care? Just go get more.” But I want to have as many plates as I can so my options are flexible. Thanks for the advice in advance guys.

TLDR: When plates ask me to hangout how do I tell them no without getting them all bent out of shape so that I can still spin them?