Christmas Gift-Giving without Feeling Stressed

Not too long ago, we posted some tips for avoiding holiday stress, such as making lists and shopping online.In fact, just to remind you without even leaving this page, here they are:

4 Tips for Avoiding Holiday Stress

1. Make lists and prioritize daily.  Make a to-do list of activities you must compete for the holidays.  This list should be specific and date oriented. For example, instead of listing “get for the Christmas party at my house”, break down each aspect of your party with a target date for completion.  The more specific your tasks, the better. Making a general list sets you up to leave something out. Always set the dates early so you’re not in a frenzy to get the task complete.  Review and update your list on a daily basis.
2. *Shop online.  A lot of time is spent driving all over town as you shop.  Make your shopping list early.  Almost anything on your list can be found online. Sit down one evening, take your list, get focused only on shopping, and begin. You’ll be amazed just how much shopping you can get done in only one evening.
3. Make time for yourself. Even if it is only one or two hours per week, take time for yourself.  Make a list of things you’d like to do that relax and refresh you. Read a book.  Get a massage. Watch a movie.  Whatever it takes to clear your mind and refresh you… do it!  You’ll be rewarded with more energy and a peaceful attitude.
4. Don’t over-commit.  During the holiday season there are lots of things to do and many organizations and groups clamoring for your time. Choose your activities wisely and commit only to the ones you consider most important. Otherwise you’ll be anxious for the holidays to be over so you can get some rest.

Top 5 Ergo Gifts

• Ergonomic Keyboards: Give the gift of ergonomic comfort where they need it the most!  From small or large hands to lefties, ergonomic keyboards offer simply better lay-outs and fit for any hands.
• Ergonomic Mice: Another must-have for fit and ease of mousing with fewer cramps and strains.  The right fit will keep a hand from feeling tight, stiff, or crampy after periods of use.  Usually, a handshake grip or contoured fit will feel most natural and keep the forearm form twisiting to grip the mouse.
• Portable lumbar support:  Instead of an expensive ergo chair, why not give the gift of back support?  That way whoever receives it can have the support they need wherever they are!
• Mouse/Hand Warmer Pouch: Offices can be cold- this is a comfortable, affordable, practical gift for that can't stay warm friend who wears 2 sweaters to work.
• Energy-Saver Power Strip:  Have a green family member or friend who loves the environment as much as he loves saving money?  This super-practical gift will keep on giving as it saves energy and money.

Ergonomic gifts are truly the best for the hard to shop for or the practical individual...but truly, anyone can enjoy and appreciate a comfortable gift.

I have been a high school Spanish teacher, an online English curriculum writer, a copy editor, and a blogger {both personally and professionally}.  I have worked in a classroom, an office of sorts, and from home, which is what I am currently doing.  While each job relied heavily on the computer, each task still had its own needs ad ergonomic applications.  As such, I am listing some of my favorite ergo products.

Easy ways to go green

I have been looking into "going green" in various, non-intimidating ways.  I'd love to say it's because we are good stewards of the earth, blah blah blah, but really it's because we live in Scotland and we give all our money to the University of Aberdeen for a PhD for my husband.  Part of being students (overseas with an unfavorable exchange rate) means looking for easy ways to save money.  Since my husband is a PhD student, we print a lot of his work for review and edits.  Instead of trashing all that paper, I save it to print less important documents (such as google maps to a new location) on the back side or I set them aside for the kids to color on.  Saving paper like that helps the economy and saves us.  Taking these baby steps have led me to look for other manageable ways to do "my bit", as they say here.  Thus, we are doing a better job of recycling and are even starting to compost.  {Yikes.} We try to turn off all unnecessary lights and appliances.  I even line dry our clothes when possible. Yes, we might as well be Mother Teresa, no?

With a power strip?

Anyway, another great option I found is the Energy Saver Green Power Strip.  It's not a fancy name and while it's not actually green {or any shade of green}, this power strip might be one of the greenest products you can add to a work station.  This power strip is designed so that its master socket controls the other sockets on the strip.  Setting up the primary and secondary sockets is easy to do (one button programming)  and will save you bundles. 

For example...

• At home, your primary socket could be your TV, with secondary sockets being the cable/TIVO box, DVD player, and Play Station.  You obviously don't need cable or DVD player abilities if the TV isn't on.  Therefore, when the TV goes off, the other 2 can shut off automatically, too!
• At work,your computer would be the primary socket, with printer, fax, etc as secondary sockets.  With one flip, you can turn them all off for breaks, inactivity, or at the end of the day.

This green power strip has an average savings of 16%, or $100 per work station.  That means that for $30, I'll still save $70 this year.  I could use $70 for sure.  I can only imagine the savings for a cubicle farm!  Plus, it's a win-win...we save money and we also do our part to keep harmful emissions down.