5 Ways You Can Be As Productive As Shonda Rhimes In The New Year
If you’re a business owner (or even aspiring business owner) you know the importance of ending the year with a bang and stepping into a new one like the boss you are. You also know that productivity is key.
While many people are spending time making New Year’s Resolutions that they may or may not keep, you’re probably somewhere strategizing your last moves of the year and getting ready for the new ones you’ll make once the clock strikes 12 and if you’re not, you still have time to catch up.
Recently, our favorite girl boss and mentor (in our heads) Shonda Rhimes, who is most famously known for producing (and creating and doing writing for some of them) four of the world’s favorite television shows (Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder and PrivatePractice), sat down with Fast Company and dropped a few gems that will not only increase your productivity, but hopefully also your coin in the new year. As an outsider looking in, I always wondered how Shonda has managed to have four television shows while also raising small children.
Get out your pen and paper, it’s time to take notes.
Don’t Let People Steal Your Time
If Shonda said it, it’s bible, and I’ll debate anyone who tells me otherwise.
Recently, Shonda adopted a new habit during the day that involves working the first hour of her day from home. This new habit was created after Shonda felt that being in the office during the day allowed people to lean on her for everything when they could just lean on each other and allow her to be in her own creative space.
Even if your day doesn’t involve working in an office, be mindful of people who knowingly or unknowingly steal your time. This may mean setting your phone to Do Not Disturb during the busiest hours of your day or perhaps ignoring a text until you finish that proposal.
[Tweet "Time is money and, for every minute wasted, is a dollar you willingly throw down the drain."]
Stop Focusing on Problems, Focus on Solutions
As an entrepreneur, there is always going to be a problem that you need to fix. If you’re fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on who you ask) to have a team of employees, it is almost inevitable that you will be tasked with the responsibility to try to fix every problem that comes your way.
Shonda proudly boasts that she encourages her employees to never come to her with problems and if they do, they better have a solution.
Discussing problems takes up a lot of your positive energy and creative juices so, instead of focusing on what went wrong, try focusing on how to make it better. At the end of the day, nobody is going to care about what your problem was, they’re going to care about how you overcame it.
[Tweet "No one cares about what your problem was, they care about how you overcame it."]
If You’re the Know It All in Your Circle, Change Circles
There’s a famous quote that’s probably floating through social media even as we speak that says, "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room,” and Shonda echoes that same sentiment:
“I think it's really important to be surrounded by people who know more stuff than you do, and are better at it than you are."
If you take a look around your inner circle, or even towards the people you spend the most time with professionally, and you’re the know-it-all in your group, you may need to look for a new group to surround yourself with.
As a business professional, it’s important to always be evolving and if you’re the one who is always imparting knowledge and information into others, then who is imparting knowledge into you?
[Tweet "“It's really important to be surrounded by people who know more stuff than you do, and are better at it than you are." - @shondarhimes"]
You Don’t Have to Do it All Today, Tomorrow Isn’t Going Anywhere
When you’re your own boss, it can become difficult to have an off-switch. You may literally get to a point that you are spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week working just because there’s nobody around to tell you to stop (unless you have someone in your circle who knows when to get you in check).
Shonda recounts a time when one of her executive producers had to remind her to focus on the things that were right in front of her. She remembers being angry when he would repeatedly tell her, "Shonda, this work will always be there tomorrow.” While she didn’t understand it then, she understands now.
“I try to focus on climbing this piece of the mountain, and then think about climbing the rest of it later,” Shonda says of her newfound approach to life.
As an entrepreneur, you might feel as though you have to complete projects the moment they land on your lap in order to make room for additional projects; however, if you can’t get it done today, it’s okay. Seriously. Take a deep breath and have at it again tomorrow. Sometimes walking away from a project gives you a different viewpoint once you pick it up again.
Never Be Afraid To Take Time For You
She shares her most coveted secret with Fast Company, and that is, she makes taking time for herself a priority.
During the hustle and bustle of the day for an entrepreneur, it can become hard to schedule in quiet time. Shonda suggests that you take the stillness and quietness of the beginning of the day (when you first wake up) to either focus on you or simply take in the moment.
Being readily available to other people at any given moment can have its pros and cons. On one hand, people will praise you for always being available, but on the other hand, you lose a little piece of yourself when you don’t take time to simply take care of you.
A wise woman once said, if “Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”.
Want to get more gems from Shonda’s interview with Fast Company click here.
What are some positive actions you're making towards productivity to get the new year started off right? Let us know in the comments below!
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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How To Use Oils Properly If Long And Healthy Hair Is Your Goal
Not too long ago, I was talking to a senior Black woman who has super long, healthy hair about what her secret was. Her immediate response is what inspired me to pen this because, low-key, I couldn’t agree more with what she said. “I know everyone thinks that the internet knows every damn thing these days, but I still grease my scalp. It worked for my grandmother, it worked for my mom, it works for me and my own daughters and granddaughters.”
LISTEN. And what’s wild is, when it comes to Black haircare, few topics are more polarizing than whether you actually need oil — or not (Google “should you grease your scalp” to see what I mean). While I do agree that, for the most part, you should avoid things like mineral oil and petroleum-based products because they can clog your hair follicles, weigh your hair down, and sometimes even make your hair drier and harder (because the oil is sitting on top of your hair instead of actually penetrating it), I firmly believe that certain oils can perform all sorts of miracles and wonders for your hair and scalp. It’s all about knowing your hair type, what it needs, and how to apply oils properly and effectively.
How To Use Hair Oil Properly
Are you ready to learn how to do that? Let’s get into it.
Massage Your Scalp
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Let’s start with the foundation of your hair: your scalp. First up, if you want to reduce stress, pretty much anywhere on your body, a massage will help make that happen. In fact, there are even studies to support that a scalp (head) massage can also help lower your blood pressure and ease headache and migraine tension. As far as hair growth goes, using your fingers to rub your scalp can also reduce hair shedding and increase the thickness of your hair (by slightly stretching out your hair follicles) over time.
And here’s the thing: If you warm up an oil like rosemary to massage your scalp with, thanks to the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties that are in it, it can help stimulate your hair follicles. Also, if you battle with dandruff on some level and you bring a few drops of tea tree oil into the mix, its antifungal properties can help to bring relief to itching and flaking while actually reducing some of the fungi that create dandruff in the first place.
(For the record, some other essential oils that are great for fighting dandruff and overall scalp irritation include frankincense, peppermint, and cedarwood.)
Pre-Poo
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It’s kinda wild, the small steps we will skip, thinking that they are no big deal when they actually are. In walks, pre-pooing. I’m thinking that a lot of you know something about the concept; however, just to be on the safe side…since shampooing can oftentimes strip your hair of the moisture that it needs, pre-pooing is all about applying conditioner, a hair mask, or some type of hair oil to your tresses, before washing them, in order to retain hydration. Since this article is all about oil, I’ll focus on some of the ones that are great for moisture retention as far as pre-pooing goes.
- Olive oil is a dope one because it’s loaded with antioxidants and fatty acids.
- Avocado oil is beneficial because it has biotin, vitamin E, and moisturizing properties in it.
- Jojoba oil is good because it has the ability to add moisture to your hair from the inside out.
Once you’ve selected the oil of your choice, divide your hair into 4-8 sections, generously apply the oil to dry hair (you can dampen it a bit if you’d like), and allow it to penetrate your hair for about 20-30 minutes before you shampoo your hair. That way, your hair will still be soft, manageable, and pretty protected as far as dryness goes before the shampoo starts doing its cleansing thing.
Add Some to Your Conditioner
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Listen, I don’t care who you are or what your hair type is; if there’s something that you definitely should be doing, it’s deep conditioning your tresses. As someone who does it religiously, to do a thorough job, you’re gonna need about an hour just to accomplish that. So, what if you’re pressed for time? Another thing that you can do is add some oil to your hair conditioner, apply it, put on a thermal heating cap, and leave it on for, say, 10 minutes or so. The mixture of the oil with your conditioner and heat while your hair is already damp will penetrate your cuticles and make them feel like you did a pretty solid version of deep conditioning.
Oils that are great for this? Thanks to all of the vitamin E that it contains, argan oil; if you want to add some additional shine, macadamia oil, and if you’re looking for something that will help to reduce the damage that hair dyes can cause (like drying your hair out), camellia oil.
Lock in Moisture (with Layering)
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Speaking of adding (additional) moisture to your hair, something that many sistahs do is either take the LOC (Liquid, Oil, Cream) or LCO (Liquid, Cream, Oil) approach. It’s pretty explanatory yet the bottom line is, if your hair is particularly dry, layering a liquid with a cream or oil could help you keep moisture in your hair for longer. As far as whether LOC or LCO is best for you, LOC fans typically have high porosity hair (meaning that your hair both takes in and loses moisture quickly because there are “holes” in your hair’s cuticle), and LCO is best for low porosity (which means it’s hard for their hair to get moisture to penetrate).
As far as the cream goes, it can be anything from a creamy hair conditioner to a hair butter like mango or shea butter. Oils that are effective include evening primrose oil, pumpkin seed oil, and moringa oil because they all help strengthen your tresses.
Seal Your Ends
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Because the ends of your hair are the oldest parts of it, you need to be intentional about giving them as much TLC as possible; that’s the only way that you’ll ultimately be able to retain length long-term. One way you can do that is by sealing your ends, which simply means that you apply some oil to the ends of your hair while it’s damp. Sweet almond oil deeply hydrates dry hair without weighing it down, soybean oil is full of fatty acids, and Jamaican black castor oil is also a deep moisturizer.
For tips on how to seal your ends properly, check out this instructional video here. Oh, and if some of you were waiting for me to mention coconut oil, although it doesn’t personally work for me, there is a YouTuber who shouts it out as far as hair sealing goes here.
Add a Bit of Oil At Night
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Probably until each and every cow comes home, there’s gonna be a debate about whether or not it’s beneficial to apply oil to hair while it’s dry. Personally, to get the most lasting effects, when it’s damp is always gonna be best. Oh, but don’t sleep on applying a bit of oil to your hair at night before turning in, too. I’ve been doing it for quite some time now and I’ve noticed that it’s helped to pamper my ends in between wash days. What I like to do is cornrow my hair (to keep it stretched out without the use of any heat) and then apply oil to the ends before tying it up and turning in.
Oils that I recommend? Carrot seed oil helps to prevent split ends, hemp seed oil helps to strengthen your hair and reduce breakage, and grapeseed oil is a potent moisturizer that also reduces frizz.
BONUS: Blue Magic, Anyone?
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As I wind this down… back to the whole, “greasing your scalp” thing. A few years back, I wrote “Looking For Hair Growth? It Might Be Time To Bring 'Blue Magic' Back” for the platform because if there is one woman whose hair is something magnificent out in these internet streets, it’s a woman whose YouTube channel is EfikZara. When I tell you that she ain’t tryin’ to hear nobody tell her to give up petroleum and mineral oil? Not one bit. Anyway, one of her videos is inside of the article if you want to check out her regimen.
What I will say for now is I tried it on my mostly 4B hair, and I hard passed. Blue Magic ultimately made it hard and stiff. HOWEVER, I know some people with 4-type hair who have low porosity, and when they applied grease to damp hair, they said that it kept their locks soft and moisturized longer than just about anything else.
Bottom line: Figure out what works for you and stick to it. And chile, if that happens to be hair grease…so be it, sis. DO IT.
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I’m hoping that I did a thorough enough job to where, if someone tells you that oiling your hair is futile, you can immediately refute those claims. Oil can be a real godsend — so long as you know what you’re doing.
Hopefully now…you do.
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