9 Unique and Productive Gift Ideas

Gift giving is such a fun and rewarding activity if you do it right. Around the holidays people get so bogged down with crossing off everyone from their lists that sometimes they miss the best gifts! I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites for productivity, practicality, and fun too, but in case you are still looking for the perfect gift you should head over to giftlist and get some inspiration from their lists too. Hope this helps you put a dent in your holiday shopping.

GustBuster: If you’ve ever had a fight with an umbrella, had one turn inside out or bust through the frame during a downpour — you need to buy one of these for yourself and a friend. I’ve had my current Gustbuster for 11 years! Yep, you read that right. You can find them at most golf stores and online too. They run between $30 and $60. It’s much more productive to buy one umbrella that really works instead of going through one after another of those other ones you can get on the street.

Pan Seared Diver Scallops (Photo credit: cobalt123)

Treatful Gift Cards from OpenTable: Who doesn’t love to be treated to a great meal? Now OpenTable has gift cards that you can give to a friend for a specific restaurant. Not all the OpenTable restaurants are participating yet but there are a good number on the site already. Keep this website on hand for any occasion

PressReader (Photo credit: Gustavo da Cunha Pimenta)

PressReader: Instead of subscribing to a bunch of magazines and newspapers — just subscribe to PressReader. Every morning I’m able to read as many newspapers as I’d like. There are 2,300 publications to choose from in 54 languages! Subscriptions range from $.99 a download to $29.99 per month.

Evernote Premium: Hands down Evernote is the best productivity app I’ve ever used. It’s helped me plan trips, keep recipes, store ideas and keep track of insurance claims and other lists. The app is free to use but if you want to give someone the gift of productivity — give them a subscription to Evernote Premium. It’s $5 per month or $45 for the year and allows you to upload more content, work with others on projects, make PDF files searchable and much more.Microsoft Streets & Trips 2013: Before leaving for any trip I make sure to research and plan ahead. This way you save time, money and headaches getting to your destination. I’ve found Microsoft Streets & Trips really easy to use and helpful for finding interesting sites, mapping out routes and personalizing itineraries. It costs $39.95.

Bootights: Get ready to have your mind blown ladies. These tights are designed to wear with your boots. They have socks built right into them! So no need to layer up on socks to keep your feet warm or prevent your tights from ripping. Brilliant, right? The founder is also one of my featured list producers. They cost between $30 and $40 and come in ankle and mid-calf socks.

AudioBooks.com: For the people on your list who just don’t have time to read but really want to be up on the latest bestsellers — AudioBooks.com is the answer. Give them a subscription for $24.95 per month and they’ll have access to over 15,000 titles.

UX Write: Do you ever wish you could type out a paper or report when you’re on the go on your iPad or iPhone? UX Write is for those times — it’s a word processor. You can format and spell check your documents but beware that not all formats like .docx are supported. It runs $14.99 and has made many improvements since it first launched.

FancyHands.com: Saving the best for last — a gift certificate to FancyHands.com means giving your friend or family member their time back. These personal assistants will help you book a vacation, locate a dog walker, make a doctor’s appointment or sell your furniture. All you have to do is ask! Five tasks will run you $25 and 25 tasks cost $65. Money well spent so you can concentrate on other things!