in the (grand) scheme of things

In the long term; in the complete picture of something. I know you're worried about getting a bad grade on this test, but you're such a great student that I doubt it will matter in the grand scheme of things. The little side stories are amusing, but they don't really connect to the grand scheme of the series as a whole. Such hasty, reckless decisions will doom you in the grand scheme of things.

in the scheme of things

COMMON People use in the scheme of things to describe how important one thing is when compared to everything else in a situation or how one thing relates to the other things in a situation. These aches and pains are annoying, but not very serious in the scheme of things. To enter into the adult world, we must have an understanding of our place in the scheme of things. Note: People often put words such as greater, grand or whole before scheme with the same meaning. In the grand scheme of things, Hertz was a small player.