You can’t give someone extra time, but you can help them maximize the time they have in the day with a few of these productivity gift ideas.
Calendars and Planners
Calendars help younger children and students understand scheduling develop long-term planning skills. Planners are ideal gifts for people who prefer non-digital planning solutions.
Wall Calendar: 30-60 Day Perpetual Erasable calendar. It is poster-size, lightweight, flexible, and you can easily hang it on any wall with Command Poster Strips. Write on it with non-permanent markers. Wipe off the ink with damp paper towels. If you don’t want an erasable calendar, try a large paper desk calendar. You can also hang them on a wall (or fridge) – either the entire calendar or one or two months at a time. Many families enjoy the colourful designs, stickers, and other useful sections in the Ultimate Family Fridge Calendar.
Paper Planner: It’s no secret that I love a paper planner. My favourite is the Blueline Notebook Pro, but there are many to choose from. Try using colourful pens in your planner to help you track activities. Bring a smile to someone’s face by adding a package of whimsical yet handy stickers specifically designed to help you schedule and plan. A waterproof notebook might be a good gift if anyone on your gift list needs to take notes in less-than-ideal conditions. Or consider the Fischer Space Pen that writes upside down and over wet or greasy spots.
Office and Desk Products
Whether someone works from home or an office (these days it could be both), a portable sit-stand laptop desk might help make their workspace more comfortable. Help those on your gift list personalize and organize their desk with a desk organizer set. A travel electronics organizer would help them ensure they have all their gadgets to transport from workstation to workstation easily. Finally, consider noise-cancelling headphones as a gift. They are an essential tool these days as we attend more and more online meetings.
Software and Apps as Gifts
There are thousands of productivity apps available on various platforms. Everyone has their favourites, and what works for one person might not work for another. That’s why we suggest you give a gift card to the recipient’s favourite app store. They can then purchase new apps that work best for them – or renew their favourite ones. If they are looking for new apps or are new to using software to be productive, we suggest starting with password manager and to-do list apps. The Paprika Recipe Manager app is another helpful tool. It organizes recipes, helps make meal planning easy and creates grocery lists. It will also save recipes from any website without scrolling through oodles of text and ads to find the ingredients and instructions.
Time Management Books
For the readers on your list, here are some time management books we suggest. Remember to ask if your recipient would prefer the book itself or the audio or e-book version.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- Four Thousand Weeks, Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
- The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
- Upstream, The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath
Other Productivity Gift Ideas
There are many productivity gift ideas you could consider giving this season. We all know that sleep and productivity are connected. The Nite Hood sleep mask can help your recipients get a good night’s sleep so they can do a good day’s work. This adjustable, form-fitting sleep mask covers your entire head, blocking out light and muffling sounds – and it is made in Canada!
One of the best and maybe most valuable gifts you can give someone is your time. Help them with some household chores (e.g., house cleaning, yard work, etc.) or care for their children or pets for an evening or weekend so they can get away. If you have technical talent, offer to run their computer updates or teach them how to use productivity software.
Remember that you can contact the Out of Chaos team anytime to schedule time management services or book a workshop.
Image by Karolina Kaboompics on rawpixel.
