Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to streamline gift giving. Your time itself
Speaker 1: is a gift, of course, but the good news is
Speaker 1: that giving physical gifts doesn't need to take much time
Speaker 1: if you do it wisely. This year, certainly people want
Speaker 1: to avoid crowded retail stores, but let's be honest, many
Speaker 1: of us don't like hanging out in malls on December Saturdays,
Speaker 1: even when there isn't a pandemic going on. We want
Speaker 1: to spend more time with family and friends and less
Speaker 1: time hunting through racks of sweaters that the recipient isn't
Speaker 1: going to wear anyway. We want to maximize the message
Speaker 1: of presents, that is, you are important to me, while
Speaker 1: minimizing the time cost. So to do that, it's important
Speaker 1: to be strategic. Make a list of everybody you want
Speaker 1: to give presents to. Some of these people you know well,
Speaker 1: like your spouse. Others such as the cousins you exchange
Speaker 1: gifts with every year, maybe not so much. Long time
Speaker 1: listeners know that I am a big fan of having
Speaker 1: a go to gift for such people with a personalized twist. Namely,
Speaker 1: it is personalized to you. Something that you find meaningful
Speaker 1: will have a story attached to it, and that makes
Speaker 1: it seem more meaningful to the recipient as well. So
Speaker 1: think about what that might be for you. Maybe you
Speaker 1: have a favorite local business you'd like to support. You
Speaker 1: know that place that makes amazing gourmet cookies. Well, everyone's
Speaker 1: getting a different batch of the cookies this year, and
Speaker 1: you can talk about why you love the place. Or
Speaker 1: maybe it's a favorite local stationary store. Everyone can get
Speaker 1: slightly different patterns, but all of them can hear about
Speaker 1: how the owner built her way site for online sales
Speaker 1: overnight when COVID struck. Of course, there's something to be
Speaker 1: said for practical go to gifts to yeti coffee cups
Speaker 1: or Nalgene or camelback water bottles are a reliable hit,
Speaker 1: an upgrade from the leaky freebees we often use. You
Speaker 1: can fill the water bottles or coffee cups with Christmas
Speaker 1: candy to make them more festive. Or what about matching
Speaker 1: fleece vests for everyone in your family or blankets for
Speaker 1: every household. We're all in our homes more now, and
Speaker 1: it's nice to feel cozy. The vests or blankets could
Speaker 1: be personalized with a family name or individual names, and
Speaker 1: you can all wear your vests or snuggle up in
Speaker 1: your blankets for your next family video call. Now it
Speaker 1: might feel weird to give the same gift to lots
Speaker 1: of people, like something you would want to keep secret,
Speaker 1: but done right, you could be quite public about it.
Speaker 1: For instance, you could give the same puzzle or cookbook
Speaker 1: to every household or everyone in your friend's circle to
Speaker 1: create a shared experience as you work through are the
Speaker 1: same puzzle or try recipes from the same cookbook even
Speaker 1: though you're in different places. Of course, gifts have to
Speaker 1: get to their recipients too, and standing in line in
Speaker 1: the post office is few people's idea of fun. So
Speaker 1: even if you're buying local, see if the vendor can
Speaker 1: ship and possibly wrap two. Since a lot more small
Speaker 1: businesses have online shopping options these days, you might be
Speaker 1: able to pull this off. For gifts you'll give in
Speaker 1: person dedicated day to wrapping them all at once. It
Speaker 1: can be fun to turn on some holiday music and
Speaker 1: get out all your wrapping supplies. It has that Santa's
Speaker 1: workshop feel, Plus it saves you from having to get
Speaker 1: out wrapping paper, ribbons, scissors, and the like multiple times.
Speaker 1: Since I have five kids, each kid gets their own
Speaker 1: wrapping paper. I can see at a glance if the
Speaker 1: piles look equal. If this feels like a lot of hassle,
Speaker 1: well use gift bags. Gift bags with tissue paper covering
Speaker 1: the president's side are ridiculously easy to pull off. Then
Speaker 1: at the end of all this present giving, save your
Speaker 1: gift bags and save any nice gift tags too, because
Speaker 1: guess what, there will be another present next year to
Speaker 1: Grandma from Fred. Now you already have a head start.
Speaker 1: I am always looking for more tips on how to
Speaker 1: streamline gift giving, so you can let me know yours
Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at I
Speaker 1: heart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
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