Bi-weekly meeting expectations

I'm hoping for some input from troops who meet twice a month, particularly if you have a multi-level troop.

If you meet 2x/month, how long are your meetings? How many badges is your troop planning to do this year? Do you tackle journeys if you only meet 2x/month? Are you planning events like 'Journey in a Day' if you are? I need some tips because I feel like we're not doing something right, here 😅

Background: Last year we started a troop that had Daisies and Brownies, where we met weekly. Although we did a lot and earned a lot of badges, it felt like GS was taking over our lives because we'd have 4 meetings/month plus usually a weekend outing. This year, we decided to scale back to two meetings/month plus one outing (so 3, basically.) Because we had girls bridge, we now have 3 levels of scouts - Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors.

It seems like meetings are chaos this year, though. It feels like we have to be ultra organized and on task at meetings (I even use timers to keep us on task), but simultaniously feels like no matter how well we plan, we're always behind and the girls are having to take badge work home to complete. Last year that wasn't the case, so I don't know if that's normal. If we don't send stuff home, we can't get any traction with badges. I don't know if I need to adjust expectations, or what.