Nelly Mosstaghimi's Blog

24th Jul 2020 Relationships

Feeling grumpy? Maybe you need a timeout.

I felt grumpy earlier this week and couldn’t figure out why. It could have been any number of things, or maybe just a combination of a bunch of little things. Who knows.

I may have taken my grumpiness out on my husband, Steve, while we were making dinner. Ok, I definitely took my grumpiness out on him. He patiently tolerated slash ignored it.

After we’d finished eating, we decided to take the dog for a long walk. We cherished our long walks together. It was our time to connect at the end of the workday. I have, on more than one occasion, spoiled these walks by forgetting to leave my grumpiness at home. Inevitably, my bad mood would spread to Steve, spoil our walk, and sour the evening. It was dumb.

Two simple things you can say to express appreciation (at work and at home)

A lot of the advice that helps us do well at work can equally be applied at home, and vice versa. Good advice is good advice, after all. Here’s one such piece of advice: express your sincere appreciation to those around you. Whether you’re a partner at a law firm working with a junior lawyer or the spouse of a workaholic, there are two simple things you can say that will work wonders.

10th Jul 2020 Relationships

Understanding the Economic Utility of a $20 Bouquet of Flowers Could Drastically Improve Your Relationship

I’m going to tell you a story about flowers. But flowers are a euphemism for any small gift that shows your partner that you were thinking of them when they weren’t around. While I’m going to give a heteronormative example (a boyfriend gifting flowers to his girlfriend), this type of token gift-giving is not reserved only for them. It can be applied to all types of romantic relationships. The type of gift may vary, but the principle is the same: doing something to make your partner feel special is a good idea. Here we go…

24th Jun 2020 Articling Students / Covid-19 / Lawyering

Life After Hirebacks Part 3: How to Spend Your Summer, and Starting Your Job Hunt in the Fall

Welcome to the third instalment in my series on Life After Hirebacks, designed specifically for articling students.

In this post, I’ll be answering some of the questions I’m most frequently asked by students who weren’t hired back – questions like Should I be applying to smaller firms? and How long did it take you to find a job? I’ll answer these, and more, in the hopes of helping you decide what to do next.

14th May 2020 Articling Students / Covid-19 / Lawyering / Reference Letters

Life After Hirebacks Part 2: Writing Your Own Reference Letters

Welcome to the second instalment of a three-part series on Life After Hirebacks, designed specifically for articling students. If you missed the first one, you can find it here: What To Do If You Weren’t Hired Back. Part 3 can be found here: How to Spend Your Summer, and Starting Your Job Hunt in the Fall.

This post is all about reference letters, and more specifically, what you should do if you are asked to prepare the initial draft of your own reference letter. If you’re thinking “Are you kidding me? I have to write my own f*cking reference letter?”. I’m not kidding. It’s completely possible that you’ll be asked to do this.

11th May 2020 Articling Students / Covid-19 / Lawyering

Life After Hirebacks Part 1: What To Do If You Weren’t Hired Back

AN OPEN LETTER TO ARTICLING STUDENTS ABOUT LIFE AFTER HIREBACKS

Dear Articling Students,

You just spent ten months working away at your law firm only to get the news that you aren’t being hired back. The thing you most feared has just happened, and it doesn’t feel fair. Now you’re in the awkward position of having to continue working for the people who just rejected you for another few weeks. At least you (hopefully) don’t have to physically go into the office and face these people, right? Thanks, COVID-19.

8th May 2020 Covid-19 / Friendships / Relationships

The Friendship Project: How to Combat Loneliness While Social Distancing

It turns out that you don’t need to live alone to feel lonely. I managed to get into an impressively bad mood after only two weeks of self-isolation. I felt so lonely, which seemed ridiculous since I live in a house full of people (and pets). I was normally a happy and energetic person, so I got fed up with being miserable pretty quickly. I decided to pull myself out of my funk, even if it meant I had to go kicking and screaming. Luckily, it didn’t come to that.

I came up with a strategy that has worked incredibly well so far, so I thought I’d share it with you. I call it The Friendship Project. It’s designed specifically for pandemics but can be used long afterwards when things (hopefully) return to normal.

27th Apr 2020 Covid-19 / Relationships / Working From Home

How to Work from Home Without Killing Your Spouse (Who is also Working from Home)

The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot. We’ve all had to adapt in different ways. For many of us, our work lives have seen the biggest transformation. If you are lucky enough to still be employed, you might be dealing with an entirely new challenge:working from home with your spouse.

My husband and I have been sharing our home workspace for over a year. It was a huge adjustment at first, but we finally figured out how to do it. Here are some tips that can make working from home together much more comfortable, whether your arrangement is temporary or permanent.