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28 March, 2013 By Sarah Wood 9 Comments

Out of the shallows: time to jump in the deep end

Family day out at the Ashmolean museum OxfordI started this blog two years ago; I was in a very different place then, my little boy was just in nursery and my little girl settled in foundation. It was time for me to start thinking about getting back into the workplace in a way that would help me balance supporting the children with consolidating my years of corporate experience in online strategy and delivery.

In the gap of my second maternity leave, social media had exploded, and there were lots of new subject areas to explore and new ways of reaching out to customers and potential clients. Being the person I am, I wanted to try these things out for myself, and started working out what would best support my efforts and the direction I thought I was heading.

Two years on and much has changed again; I have had some successes with balancing work and family, some not so successful. I still feel I have a lot to learn and this holds me back from more doing as there is a continual stream of new things to absorb and distract. The focus of this blog has certainly changed from my first post – Wading in – and has become increasingly diluted over the last couple of months as I have tried to shift its direction while still committing to regular posts.

My husband and I work together in a marketing services business which has allowed us the flexibility to support the children as a couple, and has allowed us both to spend some fantastic (as well as some frustrating ) times with them as they have grown into the very special young people they are becoming.

With time at a premium and increasingly precious in my son’s last few months as a pre-schooler, and with a view on September when he will start school and free up a more consistent amount of time for me, this blog’s second birthday seems to be an appropriate time to stop for a while and take stock.

It’s a hard decision, and I have thought about the momentum I have built and the new contacts and readers I have made which are all of great value to me, but I am finding it too tricky to think big-time changes at the same time as continuing business-as-usual.

So I am taking a deep breath, recognising how much I have learnt and how valuable this journey has been for me, whilst also accepting that I need to push myself harder and jump back in with a more focused and more targeted blog once I have stepped back and re-evaluated how I am spending my limited time.

I want to thank you all for the words of encouragement and support that you have offered, and thank you for reading and sharing my content over the last 200+ blog posts. I hope you will come back and join me when I step back in and offer up sarahwoodonline 2.0 in the next couple of months.

In the meantime you can find me still on Twitter as @SarahWood7 where I tweet a mixture of technology news, parent and book-related information as I find it interesting – please follow me there.

Thanks again for reading, stay tuned, and look out for the next chapter.

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Filed Under: digital strategy and operations Tagged With: back to work, blogging, children, family, parenting

Comments

  1. Helen says

    28 March, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    Enjoy your break and the reflection on the last two years that this may facilitate.
    I have learnt, laughed and loved your blogs from the beginning and whilst not currently utilising social media for business purposes, I have grown in my knowledge and confidence in this medium.
    I’ve enjoyed the journey and I’ll be hopping aboard when 2.0 leaves the ‘station’.
    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Sarah Wood says

      29 March, 2013 at 7:03 am

      Thanks Helen – for your interest, your support and your comments – you have been one of my most loyal readers! Will be spending some time planning out exactly how I want the blog to work going forwards, then implement it before the summer. Hope to see you back again then.

      Reply
  2. Suzanne says

    28 March, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    This sounds like a very sensible idea. One that I am not sure I could ever manage, but a good idea nonetheless. Enjoy the break and time focussing on your children – they are only young once and that step into ‘big school’ is a big one. Have only just found your blog but will follow you on twitter to keep an eye out for updates 🙂

    Reply
    • Sarah Wood says

      29 March, 2013 at 7:05 am

      Thanks Suzanne, appreciate the comment. I am a bit nervous about having stopped but do need to clear my head a little – I was suffering with too many ideas and too little time to execute them, so think a break will be just the thing. And thanks for following on Twitter.

      Reply
  3. Coombemill says

    29 March, 2013 at 8:55 am

    I blog is a hard baby to let go but your real family time is more important. Enjoy your summer off and I hope you have the weather on your side too.

    Reply
    • Sarah Wood says

      29 March, 2013 at 4:04 pm

      Thank you – yes we could really do with some warmer weather!

      Reply
  4. Eloise says

    29 March, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    Well done Sarah – look forward to your renewed blogging when the time is right for you. Meanwhile I may venture into the Twitter World from time to time to catch on your musings as well as delving onto your archives for those posts I have missed. Enjoy these next few months.

    Reply
    • Sarah Wood says

      29 March, 2013 at 4:04 pm

      Thanks Eloise – you’d love it on Twitter, see you there?

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. What did I learn when I stopped blogging? | marketingondemand ltd says:
    28 April, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    […] MONTHS ago I stopped blogging. After two years of exploring and writing about social media, online operations and strategy, and […]

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