Gift Guide: Coworkers

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It’s always hard to know what to buy your coworkers. You don’t want to spend a ton of cash, because you have to buy multiples of whatever you gift. You want to keep the gifts fairly similar. And you don’t want to give them crap that’s just going to end up trashed later. It’s a trick of finding something that’s nice, inexpensive, and useful. Here are a few suggestions.

1) Treats – If you’re a baking type, make some treats. Everyone loves snacks, especially in an office environment. And even if your coworker doesn’t like sugar for whatever reason, they likely have a kid or a spouse who does. There is the allergy or food sensitivity pitfall, but hopefully this will work for most people.

2) Fidgety Toys – We’ve all gotten to that point where we’re thinking or stressed and we need something to fidget with at work. Things like the Smart Mass Thinking Putty or Kinetic Sand from Think Geek are awesome choices. (I particularly like Kinetic Sand. I’ve played with some similar at Brookstone.) There are also things like Twiddle and Tangle toys that have no use other than being a thing to fidget with.

3) Coffee Mugs and Beverage – Coffee mugs are great around the office, and having a few is always advisable. (You might need to heat up soup or make oatmeal after all!) Combining a nice coffee mug with your coworker’s beverage of choice (coffee, tea, hot coca, whatever) is a useful gift. Stay away from the Christmas mugs though, too seasonal.

4) Gifts in a Jar – You see these all over pinterest anymore. Take a mason jar, fill it with useful stuff. Instant gift! I like this “Summer Jar” as a starting point, but alter it for winter. (Think regular lotion instead of sunscreen.) Hit up the dollar store or travel aisle to find inexpensive things to fill the jar with

5) Gift Cards – Yup, it’s a bit of a cop out but it works in this case. he trick is to make sure it’s loaded with enough money that they don’t have to make up the difference. Think places they go for lunch, Starbucks is a good universal option. Or the app store for whatever device they have.