Want to really GIVE this Christmas?

by Kietah Martens-Shaw, the founder of B.OKideas 

It’s that time of year when we are all looking for the gift that not only ticks all the boxes but sends the right message.. I know I personally love giving gifts to anyone who has been of support to me – friends, family, colleagues, suppliers – and the list goes on with the people I love to gift and see smile.

However with work and life commitments amongst the ‘silly season’ continuum it is not always achievable to gift every person within budget, on time or with the thought and meaning they deserve. That is why I have put together a list of ideas to help you this holiday season to keep a balanced perspective of gift giving:

• Make a checklist of the 5 most important things to you this holiday’s: Start with taking a day for yourself, eating your favourite foods, being around people who make you smile. These 5 things are a must with no exceptions, following write down 8-10 secondary pleasures to make space for such as work Christmas party, family BBQ, friends BBQ
• Do not over commit: Parties, presents, cards, emails – all things that could end up controlling your holiday period and running you to the floor. Only if you let it! Before you say yes to yourself and others, think about whether you have time for it – REALLY
• Make life easier for yourself: Instead of hand writing cards this year, why not email everyone – write 1 email and send it to all. Or instead of giving each of your friends individual gifts organise a Secret Santa/Kris Kringle option and see them all together
• Don’t forget about you! How often do we get to the end of the Christmas period and just feel like we need another break? Why not prepare this year and grab yourself a little something to gift yourself
• Gift with thought and plan ahead: Some of us lack money, time and creativity or have geographical distance between. So I have included my gift of choice below to help tick all the boxes:

My gift of choice:

To send a B.OK Box filled with 8+ items and surprise envelopes to open weekly. This means the recipient will have items to explore of Christmas AND New Years day, through to February next year. Each envelope has a new gift and concept to concentrate on to help with goal setting and growth. 10% of our proceeds goes to supporting mental health which means you are supporting more than just the recipient this holiday season.

The Holiday period is a time to reflect on the year that has passed on your own or with those you love (friends, family and pets). A time to pause and make space for the things you love doing and begin to visualise how you see them shaping for the year ahead.

I wanted to leave you with a thought as you go into the holiday season, a time that can be financially straining:
We gift for those we care about, when we know they will love us no matter what so take pressure off and give a gift that is full of thought.

Kietah Martens-Shaw