WHEW. What. A. Year. As you may have noticed, dear reader, by my lack of posts, the latter half of 2023 was chaotic. In the end of April I was able to travel again for work after breaking my ankle, and travel I did (for both work and leisure). In total in 2023, I took over 60 flights, and in the last two months of the year I was gone more days than I was home.

When I returned to work in late 2021 after taking a year of parental leave, I chose to work purely on commission in order to give myself that balance. Generally, it has worked out wonderfully and last year I made more money and billed fewer hours than I did in any previous year as a lawyer; however, in the last few months of the year I leaned hard into the work and lost that balance.

This year, my goal is to find a better balance between work and everything else – both enjoying life and doing the necessary life things required to make life enjoyable (house upkeep, appointments, etc). Last year I was gone from home too much, in a combination of both needing to get *me* back after having a baby and spending a year on leave (and moving somewhere I am “nobody”) and taking on one too many litigation files. I craved professional me to a point that I leaned hard into it, and by the end of the year it left me wanting more slow days at home with my family.

The plan? Try to keep trips to Ottawa to once per month. Will it always work? No. Will I have to give up interesting files that come my way in order to meet this goal? Absolutely. But saying goodbye to my little fam each time has gotten tougher as time has gone on – especially since my now 2-year-old knows what it means when I am leaving with a suitcase (the dog has always been mopey when I pack, but fortunately my husband has always been wonderfully supportive).

Let’s be real, this is going to be so much easier said than done (ya hear me, fellow type A people?), but I know it will be the best thing for me and my little fam, so I am going to give it my best shot.