Women, especially Black women, can find it difficult to advocate for themselves at work. A lot of us were taught to be seen and not heard as children, and as adults, we've taken those mindsets into our work and personal lives. Sis, we're stopping that right now.
Taking a powerful approach of asserting the things you want and the things you need to be successful doesn't make you b**chy, entitled, or whatever else society will try to convince you. I decided to put my money where my mouth was and tried being more assertive at work for two weeks.
The lessons were hard, but here are a few major takeaways that will help you:
Emails are easy ways to practice without having to talk to someone.
Starting with emails was the easiest way to practice my hand at being more assertive. Women tend to use words such as "just" and "I think" a lot to cushion what it is that we're saying. I would write my emails out, and then read over it again and take out all the "fluffy" words I saw. Trust me, it was painful looking at that email two and three times, and it was extremely uncomfortable to read the email that was on the other end of those edits. But the more I read it, the more I realized that I hadn't said anything bad, dismissive, and rude. I had simply addressed what I needed to and left it at that.
If this is just TOO much for you, that's okay! Start off by going through your emails and removing the "I think"s out of your text. You don't need to convince anyone what you think, so just say it!
Speak up in meetings, check-ins, and anywhere else that lets you practice.
This was something that I challenged with the first week, mostly because I kept thinking, "What will people think if I speak up in this meeting or if I pose a new idea?" Then I started thinking, so what? I'm supposed to be in this meeting for a reason, and everyone else speaks up, so why shouldn't I? When I went to weekly sales meetings, I spoke up and vocalized what I thought we could do to increase proficiency and how that would support the company's bottom line. Sure enough, the fear of speaking out was more than the actual art of doing it.
When you speak up, speak up with some confidence. Don't shrink or hide behind the things that you want — if you have a certain opinion on something, or know something more effective that can help your business practices, do it and say it! Who knows, maybe that promotion you've been looking at, or that new responsibility you want to take on, is simply on the other side of fear. Just remember: Even when you're assertive, you can (and should) still be nice.
Celebrate your wins, yes, out loud!
If you have an office atmosphere where you may do a weekly email thread that celebrates accomplishments, or even a group channel that lets everyone lightly toot their own horn, toot yours! If your manager, your coworkers, or someone else calls out something amazing you've done, accept and receive their compliments. You've earned it.
After a successful workweek with a personal accomplishment under the belt, I started an email thread amongst a few coworkers, sharing this cool new thing I had learned. Immediately, other coworkers started sharing their personal stories and accomplishments of the week, and everyone was bouncing off accomplishment after accomplishment!
When you step out and take a leading role, you set others up to do the same! So go on and give it a try, you may just become better at being assertive than you thought.
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Again, the answer never changes because, if there is one thing that Shellie Reneé Warren is gonna get, it’s 6-8 (sometimes nine) hours of sleep. However, since my chronotype (check out “Ever Wonder What Personality Traits Make Someone A 'Morning Person'?”) means that I like/prefer to write in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes I will sleep for the night for five hours and take a nap in the day. And y’all, that is just fine with me because I am well aware of the fact that napping does everything from give me more energy, heighten my alertness and even make me more creative to decrease stress levels, strengthen immunity, and reduce my chances of experiencing a heart attack or stroke.
My problem is I will oftentimes go “overboard” with my daytime zzz’s. What I mean by that is, in order to get the most out of a nap, they say thatyou shouldn’t sleep for longer than 25 minutes or so; otherwise, you could wake up feeling sluggish (I don’t but…). Also, it can make resting, soundly, at night a bit of a struggle.
So, what are you saying, Shellie? We should get quickies in? Yeah. And it’s funny that the word “quickie” would come up because just like a sex quickie can do wonders for you (and it can — check out “12 Super Solid Reasons To Have A Quickie Every Single Day”), it’s a full-circle moment when I say that something that can improve the quality of your sex life is to have a power nap (a nap that lasts between 10-30 minutes).
Wanna know how the two things correlate? Honestly, it’s no secret that sleep and sex work together to optimize both (check out “6 Fascinating Ways Sex And Sleep Definitely Go Hand In Hand”). Today, though, we’re going to tap into how a nap, specifically, can have you partaking in some of the best sex that you’ve experienced in a minute. I’ll explain.
Naps Reduce Stress
GiphyIf you’re feeling super stressed out right now, you are not alone. There is plenty of data out here that says that most of us are stressed for at least a couple of reasons at a time — and that can impact your sexual health on a few levels. For one thing, it can bring about feelings of depression and/or anxiety. Stress can also throw your hormone levels off (including your cycle) which can weaken your libido. Stress can make you want to put distance between you and your partner (yes, literally).
Stress can also make it challenging to get aroused or to have an orgasm. And just what can help to decrease stress? Taking a nap. Since sleep has a way of helping you to “get off of the clock” and relax a bit, that can lower your stress levels and “reset” your body so that you are calmer — and that, in turn, can do wonders for your sex drive and ultimately your sex life.
Naps Improve Your Mood
GiphyThere is one person in my life, and fairly 80 percent of the time, she’s in a super good mood. Oh, but let that girl go without sleep, and…who is this woman? LOL. There’s research behind why this happens. When a person is sleep-deprived, it messes with their brain chemicals, and that can amplify emotions like anger, restlessness and sadness. In fact, one study revealed that people who had their sleep disrupted throughout the night, they ended up having their positive outlook on life reduced by about 30 percent.
And geeze, who wants to have sex when they’re not feeling very good? Anyway, since serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate your moods, your sleep patterns, and your libido and sleep is what helps to keep it in balance — by taking a nap, not only can it help you to feel better, it can also increase your desire for sex (it can also build up your endurance which is also…sexually beneficial).
Naps Increase Your Focus and Concentration
GiphySomething that some of my clients bring up is how, when it comes to having sex, sometimes the flesh is willing while the spirit is weak because, although the desire for intimacy is there, so much is going on that they aren’t able to get still enough to focus on experiencing copulation with their partner. This also tracks because, when you don’t have enough rest, your brain finds itself not working in harmony and that can make it hard to do everything from approaching life with a sense of flexibility to making necessary decisions.
Certain data also reveal that a lack of rest can cause you to have a really poor attention span and not process things in context (the more you know). So, if you really want to get some yet it’s hard for you to focus long enough to make it happen, ask your bae to lie down with you and take a nap. Between the sleep and the snuggling (check out “Fall's Coming: 8 Wonderful Health Benefits Of Cuddling”) — you may wake up with your mind and body totally on the same page. #wink
Naps Can Make You Feel Better About Your Body
GiphyEven if, overall, you feel really good about your body, I think that we all have moments when we feel less attractive than others — and who wants to have sex when they don’t really feel…very sexy? Well, something else that sleep, in general, can do is increase your confidence in your body.
For one thing, if you want to lose a few pounds, sleep can actually make that happen by helping your body metabolize the glucose (sugar) that’s in it so that you can better manage your appetite. Other studies go on to share that since sleep deprivation can impact one’s mental health and emotional stability in a negative way, of course, getting enough rest would increase body positivity.
Shoot, science even goes so far as to say that insomnia can cause people to have an elevated level of dissatisfaction when it comes to their body image. Don’t take their word for it, though. Look in the mirror before a nap. Then look in a mirror after waking up from me. Do you feel better? I’d be surprised if you don’t.
Makes Your Brain Bigger…Which Could Make Your Orgasms Better
GiphyI saved the best for last by design. Now if you’re wondering how in the world a nap can improve (and possibly increase) your orgasms — oh, there is a method to the madness…trust. For starters, the saying that your biggest sex organ is your brain? That isn’t a myth. Long story less long, the brain is what houses your central nervous system and that is what controls how men and women sexually function (yes, literally).
And since the brain also releases feel-good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin during sex and brain activity significantly increases in women during sexual activity (especially right before she orgasms) — well, would it trip you out to know that when you take a nap, your brain actually expands? A bigger brain (that’s healthy) can potentially intensify your sexual experiences (and your climaxes) — and who doesn’t want that to go down?
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Like I said earlier, I never have to be convinced to get a nap in. However, if your sex life has been a bit stagnant lately, you’ve been feeling a little sluggish and you’re not sure what to do — I’m hoping that a nap can get you right.
There’s enough science to prove that it can. All you need to do is give it a shot.
Now where’s your pillow and sleep mask, chile?
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