The products featured in the video are listed at the bottom of the transcript.
Video Transcript:
(00:05):
And welcome back to my channel. Well, it is officially winter here in the DC area. I believe this morning was like 30 degrees. It was super, super cold. I had to take a hiatus with the holidays starting Thanksgiving, as well as all the things that were piling up. My MBA program is finally almost done two more weeks. So I’ve been focused on that cause I want to finish strong. Also, with many things happening at work and with the baby, I just haven’t had the bandwidth. I definitely am ready for the MBA program to finish because I really, really want to focus on this channel. So I’m excited about that. So last year I decided to take a break from the holidays. I was mentally stressed. I had just found out that my teenage daughter was pregnant, and only many things were happening during that time.
(00:54):
So I just was not feeling very festive after talking to the two young adults in my life, my son and daughter, we decided to just take a break. I didn’t want to do anything having to do with the holidays. And it was just, you know, a much-needed break. It actually was good, but I will say that I had forgotten how to do it when I had to put up that Christmas tree this year. It was stressful doing it because it’s an artificial tree trying to find them that connect, like what plugs connected together. Oh, that was hard. But luckily, my son was there. He called me down and said, we’re going to get this. And we did. We finally got it. And I’ll post a picture here. How the trees look like. Cause we have two trees. One since the kids were little, it was actually our first Christmas tree.
(01:44):
So I have that in the basement and then the other tree. And every year, we have a new ornament this year. Of course, the ornament is the first Christmas cause it’s my grandson’s first Christmas. So very excited about that this year. I feel like I have a lot to be grateful for and getting this year with the whole pandemic. I think with a lot of us, it took a toll on my mental health, and luckily I was able to get through that, and now I am incredibly grateful for all the things that I have in my life. I have my family, my friends, I have an excellent job with a good company. I’m almost done with my MBA program. It has just made me realize that I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though yeah, you know, it has sucked being cooped up in the house and not doing the things that I was able to do before the pandemic.
(02:44):
At least I’m able to say that I have a lot to be grateful for. I decided to create a gift guide for the remote workers in your life, even if it’s yourself because you should give yourself gifts. So I will say that I am a fantastic gift giver and I’ve been working remotely. It’s been like almost 10 years. I’ve been working remotely in some capacity. There have been times that I’ve, you know, worked remote two days out of the week and then gone into the office three days. But since what’s August 2018, I’ve been actually like a hundred percent remote. Once in a while, I’ll go to the client’s office. But other than that remote, so I decided to create a gift guide for remote workers. Let’s go ahead and get started, actually; before we get started, I want to introduce myself to those who don’t know me.
(03:33):
Hello, my name is Shevonne, and I am an engagement manager at an IT consulting company. I’ve been in it since I was 17, and I’m not going to age myself, and I’ve been a manager for about 10 years or so. And as I said, I’ve been working remotely as well. So I post videos on productivity, organization, time management and skewed more to management. And I’ve also been creating videos on being an online student because that’s what I’ve been doing since I started the MBA program. So if you liked this type of videos, please subscribe, please comment, say hi. I would love to hear from you. So now, let’s go ahead and get started. So I’m going to be looking down a lot because I have the list on my phone. So if you see me looking down, that’s why so I broke it down into categories, and the first is the home office.
(04:29):
So one thing that you can give the remote workers in your life is a desk. Some of us have had this sprung on us. So there might be people who are still working on the couch or on the bed, but if you can get them a desk, Ikea has excellent desks. I’ve been using the desk. And I think you’ve seen it before, but I’ve been using the desk that I used to have in my daughter’s room when we lived in the condo. And that my God, I think it was 2008. I got this desk, and it’s still in perfect condition. The next thing I would say is to get an ergonomic chair. Because especially if you have back issues like me, it can be a lot on your back if you can’t afford the ergonomic chairs, because those sometimes can run up to like 200 plus like the good ones, then get a pad.
(05:22):
That’s what I have. I had the pad and all linked all the products down below, and the pad actually does the job, and I’ve had it since then. I think I got it late last year, and I love that pad. It definitely has saved my back. The next thing is the calendar. I live by my calendars online. You know, I use Google calendar. I have everything connected there. And then on my phone, I use Apple calendar, but I still have a physical calendar, and it’s okay because visually, I can see it. And I just picked it up at target. Target has outstanding ones. Of course, staples office Depot. They also have great calendars, or you can also get it at Amazon, but I would get a calendar if you know that that person would or visually want to see it in their office, I would get them a calendar.
(06:10):
The next one is a coaster. So you don’t want stains. And this is someone who is a clean freak. Stains on the desk or any type of like coffee table, I hate that. So coasters are always a good gift to give. There are some fun coasters out there. If you’ve ever visited uncommon goods, they have adorable, eccentric, fine coasters. I got coasters on Houzz.com. And you can find some good ones. So just try to think of the person’s personality and get them posters that they would enjoy. The next thing you can give them is an organizational cube, like organizing this stuff in their office. So you can have one. I know the Container Store has amazing ones where you can have like little slots for paperclips, staplers, even pictures, pens, and those types of things. So it’s not just scattered all over the desk.
(07:10):
So those are always great to have. Also, as if that person has no pads and pen, you know those types of things, you can have those organizational cues to keep their desk organized. Those are also a great gift to give. If the person is obsessed with stationery and writing supplies, get them pretty, no pads, get them a nice pen pencil. I mean, those are always great gifts. You can even engrave them. Some stores will engrave them for you. So you could even give them that a planner. So I used to have a physical planner, but it wasn’t for me. I prefer to just do it online, but some great digital planners are out there, and I’ve seen some amazing physical planners. Like, I actually subscribed to some YouTube channels where they organized their physical planners, and Oh my God, they’re so pretty.
(08:08):
So I wish that I was creative like that or like have that artistic touch, but I don’t. But even so, the physical planner is good. As I said, just trying to find out what type of a person it is. If it’s someone who prefers digital planners, there are some good ones out there. If it’s a more physical planner, there are some beautiful ones out there. So like Erin Condron, Oh my God, her planners are so beautiful. You can find like also like stationary, PA pens and so forth. So it’s not just a planner. So she has, so planners are a great gift as well. And one thing I always tell my kids is you don’t have to pay for something. You can do something for that person because then also shows that you love them. It doesn’t have to be like for me like I always tell my kids like you don’t have to get me a gift in like a physical gift that you paid for.
(09:05):
You can do something for me. So one thing that you can do is you can create a space for them to work. That would be a gift for someone. It doesn’t have to be paying for all this stuff. You can actually create something for them. That would also be a good gift, create a space for them, move some things around the house, rearrange some stuff and get them a space where they can work in peace and just be happy near a window would always be good because they can look out the window and daydream, I’m kidding, but only a space that they can have where they can work. That could also be a fantastic gift. Okay. Let’s move on to like the food category because we’ve got to eat like people who work, right? So one thing that I would get for the person, if they’re a coffee drinker, get them a coffee machine.
(09:55):
If they’re a tea drinker, get a tea kettle, you could even combine the two and get like a Keurig machine that can make special coffees, teas, hot chocolate. So that would be a good gift to give. The other thing is coffee, a tumbler that is something like if they have to run to the store, they can take their coffee with them. Or even like at the office, there are times like for me, that I’m so busy working or I’m in tons of meetings where I’m speaking that my coffee just sits there, and it’s great to have it in a tumbler that keeps it insulated. And when I drink it, maybe like half an hour, an hour later, it’s still hot or warm. So I think that that would be a good gift as well. I think I’ve seen this in a lot of gift guys, but I’m not kidding.
(10:47):
An Instapot is a lifesaver. I will say that at first, I thought like, oh, everyone’s just saying that. Because it’s like the popular thing right now, but no, InstaPot’s do save you a lot of time. Especially if you’re trying to cook rice, this is just a tip. I don’t know how to make rice. My mom has tried to teach me, my grandmother has started. She wanted to teach me, and I’m going to say that I make perfect rice and then Instapot. So Instapot will save you a lot of time. The other thing, too, is a slow cooker. Oh my God, slow cookers. You just sit there. There are some times I get to do some prepping, of course, like cutting. You have to sometimes have to like Brown things or saute things before you put it in the slow cooker, but you just put it in the morning or during lunch, and you can just forget about it.
(11:36):
That’s also a great kitchen product to give someone who is working from home. Because just because you work from home does not mean that you have all the time in the world. I work more at home than I do in an office. And when I work in the office, I was able to say, okay, I’m shutting it off, and I can go home at home. Sometimes I’m working like crazy and then I have to work. And then I’m taking care of the baby. The slow cooker has been a lifesaver, just like the Instapot. And then here are the free things that you can do, create a Pinterest account for them. And you can even create group accounts and make a recipe. One I have on my Pinterest. I have like recipes. I have chicken beef, pork soup, stews. I have it just broken down, and it helps me tremendously.
(12:27):
And now that Pinterest has come out with widgets, I actually have the widget on my phone. And the good thing about that is if let’s say I have a refreshing, I think, every hour. And when I look at it, I’m like, Oh, I can do that recipe next week, and I’ll add it. So definitely like create a Pinterest account, share it, like have a group one with them. And then you have those recipes that you can cook together or offer to, to buy them lunch or dinner or make lunch or dinner. If you’re young or don’t know how to cook, make them eggs and toast oatmeal. It does not have to get fancy, make them a sandwich. So I think just that gesture would, that would be something that the remote worker in your life would really appreciate. Okay. So the next category is tech.
(13:21):
And as you can tell, I’m always excited when talking about tech. So one thing about working in the office that’s great is that you usually have a second monitor, especially if you’re like working on a document, Excel spreadsheet or coding, whatever you’re doing, it is always good to have a second monitor. So buy them a monitor, or one thing that you can do is if you buy them a tablet, I mean, Amazon has cheap ones. I think Amazon probably has the cheapest ones. The Kindle fires are really affordable. And I know that they always have good deals. I had done, cause I have an iPad it’s I actually bought this app called Duet. And that has worked as my second monitor when I need it. So you even buy them the duet app? I think that’s the only one I’ve seen.
(14:08):
If there are others, please let me know. But that’s the one that I purchased, and I love it. It actually will mimic a second monitor, and it has been great. I have my iPad next to me, have my laptop, and I have two monitors. So you could even buy them the duet app, a nice mouse. That’s something good, a mouse and a pad. There are some like some fancy ones out there. So buy them a mouse and a pad. You can buy them as a salad machine; I have a bunch all over the house. Definitely, a sound machine would also be useful for storing their files and also backing their computer. You never just want to depend on the computer’s drive. So get them an external hard drive or pay for cloud storage. And that would be good as well.
(15:00):
So a microphone is also good, or you can even get them in the headset with a mic. I know I don’t really use it unless the baby’s with me, but I see a lot of my coworkers like they use a headset, a power strip, and get them a power strip that will protect from surges. If there’s like ever. The power goes out. That would also be good. And now I’m getting into the internet of things. Because there are like power strips. Now I’ve seen that you can connect like if you have a Google home, like a Google home product or an Alexa, and I think Apple has their home pod, you can connect it to that as well. So that would also be good, or there’s even like little plugs that, that you can connect as well.
(15:51):
It’s also like getting them a Google home mini and Alexa or home pod. I love mine. Of course. You have to think if you’re someone who’s really focused on cybersecurity, you got to think about the security in it. Believe me. I also worry about it because there are some times that I see that that light is on like it’s listening, and I’m like, huh, why are you listening to me? So if you are opposed to that, then yeah, you probably don’t want to get that. But if it’s someone who does like that kind of stuff and gets them one of those as well, I love mine. You can get them a smartwatch. I have a Fitbit, my Fitbit, the screen broke, so I’m going to get myself an Apple watch. But the good thing about that is the fact that I like the fact that this one, it isn’t really a smartwatch in a way, like, it’s not like the Apple watch or the other Fitbits that are out there, but it will like buzz when I need to get up and get out of my chair.
(16:46):
It will also buzz if I have a text message or a meeting reminder. So get them a smartwatch because one thing as remote workers, especially during COVID and I’m talking more about me, is I was gaining weight like crazy and Oh yeah, I was getting a lot of weight. So one thing that I did was I have been relied on this to get me up and to move and making sure that I work out because, for some reason, it kind of gamifies it. I even wrote a post about this, but this one kind of has like a gamification type of feature where you can compete with other people who have Fitbits, which I think is really cool. And I started Weight Watchers. And one thing is that this connects to weight Watchers and my fitness pal, which is really nice.
(17:39):
So it definitely gets me up and moving. So I think that, that those are the great features of having a smartwatch. You can get them a keyboard if they do have a laptop and you prefer, you know, they perform more of a keyboard. You can even get like, there’s like ones that are too like minimize you getting carpal tunnel syndrome. So those are really good to give as well. So there are people who have privacy screens. I don’t have one, but a privacy screen is also good. The other thing is a webcam cover. I know that there are people who like to cover their webcam, and I’m actually thinking about it because there was one time that I accidentally put the webcam on. Thank God I was not looking busted as hell. And I even had some makeup on, but that was something that I was like, Oh my God, if I wouldn’t have noticed that, people would have noticed, so the webcam cover would have saved that.
(18:35):
And I think there are some, like, there are people who put tape on it, but the webcam cover, I have seen that now there’s like Google products for that. So you can even give them that. Okay. So the next category is subscriptions. So if you know that that person really loves a magazine or a newspaper that has gone towards that model, because I think with Harvard Business Review, I think you get three free articles. Don’t quote me on that Washington post also, but I, you know, I’m fine. I don’t subscribe to the Washington Post; I just the Harvard Business Review. If you know that person really likes it, then offer to pay for like three months or even a month, depending on your budget. So that would be a good gift, and another subscription you can buy them is a music one. I know a lot of people love Spotify, and it actually has an iPhone widget.
(19:25):
I’m assuming it also has an Android widget. I love Pandora. That would be a good subscription to buy. There is one called it’s not really music, but it’s actually it is music. You could say it’s music is called brain.fm. You can get them that subscription. So there are some good ones that you can give them. And then another one that is good to provide them with as well as like a learning site. So like there’s like Pluralsight, LinkedIn Learning, which used to be Lynda.com, and Coursera. If they’re working on a certification, you can get them a learning subscription. That goes along with that certification. So I heard about this when my kids were little, and I loved it. I actually had them make it one year for my mom, but like the coupons, they are super cute.
(20:23):
Like you create like the type of like coupons that the person can redeem at any time. I don’t know if any of you have ever done that. I love doing that. So I think that that’s something that you can do is create a coupon book for them, and then they can redeem it at any time. You can offer things like making a meal, buying them a meal, cleaning, running errands, spending time with them. That’s more for my young adults that, you know, there are still, I would say, they’re still teenagers. But like that makes them spend time with you. So those are the type of coupons that you can give. So I think a coupon book is it doesn’t matter how old you are. I believe that they’re great to make and give your loved one. Some extra things that I’ve also thought about are like the massage machine.
(21:17):
Like my mom got one for my back, and I still use it from time to time. So get them like a massage machine, a backscratcher, if you’re someone, if your loved one is always itchy, get them a backscratcher. I have one that I don’t know where I got it, but it was super cheap. You see, I still use it as a picture frame so they can like put pictures of you or other loved ones like your kids or family, you know, family and friends. That’s also good, a funny button. So my family and I, for the adults, we’re not buying gifts for each other. Cause we’re trying to be, you know, very budget savvy about Christmas. We’re only buying for the kids who are under 18. And we, so I told them, let’s go ahead and do a white elephant gift exchange because I’ve done some at previous jobs.
(22:12):
And I always thought that they were really, really funny. So that’s what we’re doing. So one thing that I found that I thought was really funny is like one of those like electronic buttons. I, you know, I just think it’s funny. Sometimes, like those types of gag, give someone a really fun gift because if they’re having a hard meaning or conversation of a sort of sore, they can press that button at any time. Hopefully, they’re on mute or the FA the meeting ended, but those are also a good gift. A whiteboard, depending on what type of job they do, a whiteboard is also good—a diffuser. I love essential oils. I used to be a candle person, but the fumes, for some reason, after a while, they started really impacting me. So now I have diffusers all over the house.
(23:01):
I have one right here in the window that I have, and then I have like two downstairs. I’m in the living room like right now is candy cane. So I have a house, not only candy cane, but a diffuser is also good. It does. It’s also good for the mind. And you can find that Pinterest has many people who put like good recipes or if you’re lazy like me and don’t want to sit there and come do all these combinations, you just want to get it up and run. You can find a bunch of them on Amazon that are already pre-made, like the candy cane one. I just got like a holiday essential oil collection. That’s also an excellent gift to give the other one is a throw or a weighted blanket. So I’ve been thinking of getting a weighted blanket, but I feel like I’ve spent too much.
(23:52):
Maybe, you know, I’m a little frugal sometimes. So I decided I’ll wait on the way to blink unless I see a good deal, but I have like a throw, and this is what I use to cover my feet at my desk. So that would be a good gift. If someone, especially if there’s someone who gets really cold a portable heater, I have some. I don’t have one here on my desk because the throw is good enough for me, but I have some in the basement that gets so cold in the winter. The other thing too is socks or slippers. The other thing is that we all have been online, and I don’t know how to say your company, but we use background effects. And sometimes just to be funny, so you could even like to create, if you’re someone who’s like, really like knows how to create like nice little images, you can greet them the backdrop for their, so when they’re in meetings and stuff like that, you don’t have to know Photoshop.
(24:56):
You can use Canva or Easil. I know there’s a third one, but I can’t remember, but you could even create them that. So those were all the ideas that I had that I would like to give. And I know other people have also mentioned. I hope that this was useful. As I said, I’ll have all the products that I recommend down below, and you can look at them or, you know, find your own as well. I’ve actually been starting to use Rakuten. Hopefully, I said that right. I already have been using honey, and I had read, tell me not, but because believe me, I love not paying full price, but now I’ve been using Rakuten. And with the stuff that I’ve gotten to give you like cash back, I got back like $8. And you might not think it’s a lot, but Hey, for me, anything it’s good enough.
(25:44):
And I just thought that was great. Cause I just started using it like three weeks ago. So you could even have those types of Google, Chrome extensions. Have you used Google Chrome, have those extensions on there and try to save money cause they’ll apply coupon codes and stuff like that. So, yeah. So I think that is it. I’m going to come back with Christmas gift ideas for the baby. Now that I have a baby and for the young adults in your life. For an online student, it’s kind of the same for a remote worker, but I think there are different things that, as an online student, I would like that is a little different from a remote worker. So thanks again. And I will talk to you soon. Bye.
List of Products In the Video:
→ CHECK OUT MY AMAZON STOREFRONT THAT HAS CURATED LISTS OF ALL THE GIFT IDEAS FEATURED HERE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/shevonne_p
Products Show in this Gift Guide:
→ OFFICE DESK (Similar to the one I have) https://bit.ly/3qseHNY
→ ERGONOMIC CHAIR https://amzn.to/3ohY7ye
→ ERGONOMIC CHAIR CUSHION https://amzn.to/3ol22dy
→ DESK/WALL CALENDAR https://bit.ly/3mBmCpR
→ COASTERS (Houzz doesn’t have the one I got so here is a similar one) https://amzn.to/3lJFr97
→ DESK ORGANIZER https://amzn.to/33HoUvZ
→ NOTEPADS (Etsy is a great place to find some nice ones) https://amzn.to/3lFoMmS
→ ENGRAVED PEN https://amzn.to/33Hr3Yz
→ PLANNER https://bit.ly/3mFs7Uc
→ CREATE A SPACE FOR THEM TO WORK free
→ COFFEE MACHINE (the one I have) https://amzn.to/2JwTr8X
→ TEA KETTLE https://bit.ly/2VyPN0Q
→ KEURIG MINI PLUS https://amzn.to/3g6LrYk
→ COFFEE TRAVEL MUG (I have three!) https://amzn.to/2VzuGeN
→ TEA TUMBLER https://amzn.to/33G3yz1
→ INSTANT POT https://amzn.to/37qLVEA
→ SLOWCOOKER (Similar to the one I have) https://amzn.to/2Vui74k
→ COMPUTER MONITOR https://amzn.to/2IaujEq
→ KINDLE FIRE HD 8 (Just got one to leave downstairs) https://amzn.to/2VwHRNv
→ DUET APP (Turn your tablet into a 2nd monitor) https://www.duetdisplay.com/
→ MOUSE (Similar to the one I have) https://amzn.to/3of6dre
→ SOUND MACHINE https://amzn.to/3lDGF5z
→ EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE my son has https://amzn.to/3mwKkU1
→ CLOUD DRIVE I use OneDrive, iCloud, and Google Drive
→ HEADSET WITH MICROPHONE https://amzn.to/3qp88LR
→ POWER STRIP https://amzn.to/3g4dxTS
→ SMART PLUGS https://amzn.to/39Aalyd
→ SMART SPEAKER https://bit.ly/2VxxfxU
→ SMARTWATCH https://apple.co/2L03RhH
→ FITBIT BLOG POST http://bit.ly/2OpS4dJ
→ KEYBOARD https://amzn.to/33Bp8Vq
→ PRIVACY SCREEN https://amzn.to/3onrdfs
→ WEBCAM COVER https://amzn.to/33FA2cI
→ HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW https://bit.ly/3ogIUgX
→ SPOTIFY https://spoti.fi/3g62JEI
→ PANDORA https://pdora.co/3qpId6Y
→ BRAIN.FM https://bit.ly/3oiMsz3
→ PLURALSIGHT https://bit.ly/3mDrLNV
→ LINKEDIN LEARNING https://bit.ly/3g8WoZ9
→ COURSERA https://bit.ly/33FtcUR
→ BACK MASSAGER https://amzn.to/3lF0ZDw
→ BACK SCRATCHER https://amzn.to/2VxeWZJ
→ PICTURE FRAME https://amzn.to/3qmzNwZ
→ BLAH BUTTON https://amzn.to/3odOSiu
→ WHITE BOARD https://amzn.to/39FqUZE
→ DIFFUSER https://amzn.to/36yUxcU
→ THROW https://amzn.to/3qiMtoy
→ PORTABLE HEATER (I got it in 2013 and love it) https://amzn.to/3mCT3UN
→ SLIPPER SOCKS https://amzn.to/37LPzt1
