How to start thinking about holiday shopping when December seems far, far away

Veering out of my normal lane to share some gift ideas (mostly books and games, but also chocolate) for my fellow procrastinators who are worried about supply chain delays.

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here. 

For many people, including myself, December is a holiday season that involves gift-giving. I have long aspired to be one of those people who is hyper-organized about gifts. I imagine keeping a rolling list of gift ideas that I update year-round and then order by, say, mid-August, just to reduce any risk of not getting the just-right items that bring joy to the faces of those I love. 

My aspirations on this front have yet to result in actual action. Instead, every year around the second week of December I suddenly think, “Oh shit, the holidays are coming.” With few ideas and limited time, I expend a fair bit of stress to source a hodgepodge of gifts (rather than a curated collection of memorable treasures), then I beat myself up for not acting sooner and vow to do better next year.

Every. Year.

At least I am consistent.

This year is slightly different thanks to anxiety-inducing news stories about mounting supply chain issues and shipping delays. Rather than pretending it is still October (as the deadlines on my to-do list suggest it should be), I am foreseeing my well-established pattern resulting in extreme December stress (for me) and some truly sad gifts (for my family).

Even my commitment to strategic procrastination has its limits.

Thus, this year I am moving my holiday gift drama from December to November. I have spent a fair bit of time in recent days reviewing online gift idea guides. While these guides have resulted in few actual ideas of things to buy for my loved ones, they have inspired me to create my own gift idea guide. And so here were are.

In today’s newsletter, I have replaced the usual “One Small Thing to Try Immediately” with “Holiday Gift Ideas to Consider Immediately”. My hope is that some of these suggestions will help make your own holiday shopping a bit easier, or at the very least inspire you to get started on your shopping. If they do nothing more than help you avoid some stress in December, I will consider this list a success.

And remember: it is perfectly acceptable to buy gifts for yourself!

Image: Pixabay.

Holiday Gift Ideas to Consider Immediately

All of the gift ideas below are for things I personally like. Most of the ideas are for books, because: Books! I also include a lot of board games, as I find these a great way to connect with family and friends. 

Full disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links (see Alison Gary’s excellent explanation of how affiliate links support bloggers), which means that if you use the link to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission that I will use to support my own chocolate and book-buying habits. The cost is to the corporation and not to you, but you don’t want to use the link, no problem: just search up the product without using the link provided. Better still: support a local business and source the item(s) that way. All options are good with me. (It is possible I eat too much chocolate already.)

Okay, let’s do this!

Non-Fiction Books for Adults (and possibly older teenagers)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Science, race, research ethics, and a compelling writing style. Everyone working in academia should read this, and the non-academics on your gift list will also enjoy it. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. This story of a serial killer stalking the 1893 World Fair in Chicago is unbelievable - except it actually happened. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. A fascinating account of American diplomacy in early Nazi Germany. Larson is an excellent historical storyteller - as evidenced by the fact that he gets two books on my list. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi. A useful book for the busy people on your list. I mentioned this book in a past newsletter. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff by Dana K. White. This book is both practical and also fun to read. Just be careful to only give it to someone who will not misinterpret your gift as a passive-aggressive critique of their housekeeping! See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

Work Your Career: Get What You Want for Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD by Loleen Berdahl and Jonathan Malloy. My coauthor and I wrote this book to help PhD students (and prospective PhD students) prepare for both academic and non-academic career success in the face of a tight and highly competitive academic job market. For the graduate students in your life (even if they are not in the social sciences or humanities). See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport. Just the title alone is enough to bring a smile to someone’s face. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

Children’s Books (this is a short list as my girls are now teenagers)

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. The part in the story where Trixie goes ‘boneless’ captures a lot of my own parenting-young-children experience. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. My teenagers still recite parts of this book. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

What Do You Do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada. This one continues to resonate with me. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local bookstore.

Board Games

Qwirkle. We love this game so much that we take it on trips with us. For 2-4 players, ages 6+.  See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local games store.

Exploding Kittens. The cards in this game are hilarious. What I would give to have a “nope” card to use in real life. For 2-5 players, ages 7+. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local games store.

Ticket to Ride. There are many versions of this game, and I fear we might own all of them. (I am exaggerating, but only slightly). Germany is our favourite, but I recommend starting with the original. There is also a youth version for ages 6+. For 2-6 players, ages 8+.  See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local games store.

Pandemic. Too soon? This cooperative game is my family’s newest game favourite. For 2-4 players, ages 8+. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local games store.

Catan. A great family game. I have even won a few times. There is a juniors version for younger players. For 3-4 players, ages 10+. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local games store.

Travel stuff

Luggage scale. Years ago I gave my husband a luggage scale for Christmas. It has saved us a lot of stress in packing, particularly for return travel when I have visited local bookstores. See: Amazon or your local stores.

Packing cubes. We used to travel without packing cubes. Crazy, and never again! A great gift option for anyone who travels. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local stores.

Other

Fitbit. Two years ago my husband gave me a Fitbit for Christmas. Now I am not sure how I ever managed without it, which is silly but still true. I love knowing my pace during runs and my sleep score. There are lots of models and price points. See: Amazon or Chapters-Indigo or your local stores.

Planner. For the goal-setters on your list, planners are a valuable tool. I use the Full Focus Planner myself. For the profanity-loving goal-setters, be sure to add these motivational stickers. (Yes, I use them, too.)

Puzzles. Who doesn’t love a nice jigsaw puzzle? See this cat-book option from Amazon for a starting point.

Chocolate. Always a hit, at least with me. Look up your local chocolatiers. 

As I write this, I am still without gift ideas for some of my own family members. If you have great ideas for seniors, middle-aged folks, and teenagers, I would love to hear them!

Until next time…

In today’s newsletter, I aspired to make your holiday gift-giving a bit easier. However, if you dislike gift guides, or holidays, or gifts, fear not: in my next newsletter, I will get back into my usual lane and return my focus to helping make your work life a bit easier. And hopefully, by then, I will have completed my own holiday shopping.

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S.  Have you read any of these books or played any of these board games? Are you already done your holiday shopping? Please hit comment and let me know!

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Loleen Berdahl, Ph.D.: I am a twin mother, wife, runner, cat lover, and chocolate enthusiast. I spend far too much time on Twitter and binge-watching television, and my house could be a lot cleaner. During the work hours, I am the Executive Director of the  Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. I am the author of the University Affairs Skills Agenda column and my most recent books are  Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD and Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science.