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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EXPERIENTIAL GIFTS

What’s the best tangible holiday present you ever received? Hold that thought. Now, what’s best experiential gift?

If your biggest sense of delight came from a gift you got as a child, most of your gifts were probably tangible. When we’re little, our frames are reference are smaller, and our wished-for things take up a large proportion of our hopes and dreams: a bicycle, a dollhouse, a magic set. You probably remember getting stuff.

If the holiday gift came in adulthood, however, there may be a few special tangible gifts you recall, but I’d bet you’d be hard-pressed to talk about the gifts you received in 2021, or 2017, or a decade ago. Tangible gifts recede in our memories; gadgets get replaced by updates, clothing wears out, books and music gets consumed and blended in among our possessions. But experiential gifts, in part because our experiences are unique to us and are also separate from our everyday lives, live on in our memories.

Experiential gifts are not only more memorable, they are also more satisfying than tangible ones, overall. Research from a variety of sources, including Thomas Gilovich, the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, found that enjoyment received from experiential purchases far exceeds that of tangible items. 

The anticipatory aspect is part of it. When we decide to do something, we start thinking about what we will be experiencing. Thus, our imaginations fill in the details in a way that makes thinking about tangible items pale in comparison. Most research has followed this with regard to the things we buy for ourselves, but when we get experiential gifts, they are endowed with the same anticipatory delight between when we get them and when we can use them. The gifts we give should have the same power to stir imagination in our recipients between when they unwrap their presents and when they get to use them.

There’s also a reflective or retrospective aspect that makes experiential gifts more powerful. While we shouldn’t compare the gifts we get to what our friends and loved ones gets, comparison is natural. My iPhone 14 to your Google Pixel; my air fryer to your InstaPot. 

If what I have is inferior to what you have in even one aspect, it it may decrease the delight I feel about what I received, even if I loved mine before comparing it with yours. And if mine is better than yours, well, the excitement doesn’t last. It’s just a thing. Moreover, very few tangible things retain their charm after weeks or months or years. (We’ve talked about the concept of the hedonic treadmill before, with regard to Diderot’s dressing gown in Toxic Productivity Part 2: How to Change Your Mindset. Basically, we get used to stuff.)

Conversely, it’s practically impossible to compare different experiences (yours vs. someone else’s) because there are so many relative differences. My family’s hour in an escape room is going to be completely different from the hour your family spent in one, even if it was at the same location following the same clues and scripts.

At most, you can compare elements of your memories (of the escape room clues, of locations in your trip to Italy, with someone else’s memories of their experiences, but you’re far less likely to compare and feel your own experience to be unfavorable unless your trip was a catastrophe. (Fell into a volcano? Well, at least you get to sell the movie rights!) Experiences, like the individuals who do the experiencing, are unique. 

Today, we’re going to look at a specific kind of experiential gifts — gifts of learning, which involve both learning how to do things and learning for the sheer joy of knowledge.

GIFTS OF EDUCATION

The opportunity to learn something new is a gift that keeps on giving. Outside of the formal education of high school or college, we rarely get permission to be a “beginner” in a subject, and the stakes are so much lower because we need not worry about our permanent record. Paper Doll didn’t study Italian or learn how to ballroom dance, two courses readily available at my university, out of a fear of failure. But as an adult, the stakes for “failure” are much lower if there are no grades or rankings.

Learn By Doing

We’ll begin with participatory educational gifts that let you learn by doing. Consider these gifts for your friends and loved ones.

• Music lessons — Whether your recipient wants to pick up where they left off in middle school and learn the flute without being forced to participate in the marching band, or learn guitar for the first time to play a favorite song, learning to play an instrument has been found to improve patience, memory, and self-confidence, among other benefits.
• Singing lessons — Your bestie may want to get up on stage or just feel more confident singing in the shower, but vocal lessons have been proven to improve posture, boost concentration, and even reduce sleep apnea.
• Dance classes — It doesn’t matter whether you want master the TikTok dances like Lizzo’s About Damned Time or Meghan Trainor’s Made You Look; dancing isn’t just for tots in tutus and hip GenZ kids. From ballroom to ballet, tap to jazz, if you know someone who loves to dance and wants to master some skills, a package of classes from a dance studio may make your giftee twirl!
• Physical education classes — This isn’t about passing that Presidential Physical Fitness Test. (Oh, how I hated that!) And obviously you don’t want to body shame a loved one into working out.

However, if your BFF wants to get leaner or stronger, you can gift several months of an in-person gym membership or a package of online on-demand classes, like at Obé Fitness, Barre3, ClassPass, Alo Moves, and Peleton.

From aerobics and bootcamp to Pilates and Peleton to yoga and Zumba, you can find classes that work for your recipient. Or maybe your bestie would prefer to have private fitness coaching sessions. (You can even secure gifts of session with online personal trainers, such as with Future.)

©Erik Brolin, via Unsplash

• Self-Defense Classes — This may seem like a downer; nobody wants to be reminded that the world isn’t safe. But there are so many other benefits to learning self-defense methods, from improved self-confidence and self-respect to better balance and quicker reflexes!
• Horseback riding — Horseback riding has been incorporated into some types of therapy because of a variety physical benefits (improved core strength, balance, and coordination) and mental ones (reduced anxiety, increased compassion, and relaxation). If your loved one shouts “Horsie!” any time you pass a horse while driving and can’t pass up a repeat viewing of National Velvet, consider riding lessons as a gift.
• Driver’s education — For teens or adults, a package of driving lessons can help give the twin gifts of safe driving skills and confidence. As a bonus, many 55+ drivers can find their car insurance rates reduced if they take safe driving or defensive driving classes.
• Language lessons — Learning a language may initially seem like a purely intellectual pursuit, but it’s definitely a learn-by-doing experience. Your mouth has to move in different (dare I say, “foreign”) ways, and learning a language can be a full-body experience. (You really have to throw yourself into listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a different language, and you may find yourself walking and gesturing in line with the language you learn!)

If you’ve been reading Paper Doll for a while, you know that I’ve been studying Italian since 2018. So far, I’ve been happy with the free lessons via Duolingo. In fact, I recently hit a milestone! 

However, Duo (as the cool kids call it) has a paid “Super” (formerly “Plus”) subscription with advanced features for $6.99/month.

Other options for giving online language learning subscriptions include Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, Mango, Babbel, and Memrise. If you think your recipient would prefer more structured, in-person classes, you could pay for a local university or community college class. Another alternative, especially if your giftee would like to refresh long-lost language skills, might be a package of lessons with a language tutor.

• Cooking classes — Whether your recipient is a post-college cooking novice or a veteran who wants to learn to specialize in a particular cuisine, there are so many great cooking class options. Just type “cooking classes” and the name of your recipient’s city into a search engine to find classes taught at local restaurants, culinary schools, community colleges, and cooking supply stores. 

Other in-person options include:

Eataly — With locations in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, and Silicon Valley, these Italian marketplace/restaurants have classes and special events ranging from cooking classes for adults and kids to market tours (to learn where the experts go), from butcher to baker.

Sur La Table, maker of fine cookware, offers both in-store classes as well as a variety of affordably-priced online courses (beginning at $29/household). Experts teach the live 90-120 minute classes, offered via password-protected Zoom sessions, so your giftee (and any other family members hanging out in the kitchen) can ask questions as they follow along step-by-step.

From Thai stir-fried dumplings to homemade tiramisu, they’ve got you covered.

Creampuff Snow People. ©Sur La Table 

Goldbelly Live! Cook-Alongs help you send a combination gift of food and education. You purchase a Goldbelly meal kit and the Live! (via Zoom) cook-along group classes are included. The ingredients arrive the day prior to your class, and you can learn how to make pizza to dumplings to cookies, class-and-kit combos tend to range from $99 to $159. 

Unfortunately, it looks like all the current classes are sold out, but take a peek at the video to get a sense of what might make a great upcoming gift. 

Would your recipients prefer more intimate cooking class experiences? Buy a gift card (from $100+) from The Chef & the Dish‘s to give private classes with “white glove service” taught by chefs around the world. Your giftee books a class, and a Kitchen Assistant makes contact to host a personal Kitchen Prep Session to check the camera settings, review the shopping list, and answer pre-class questions.

Recipients can pick from 100+ courses covering a variety of cuisines: American Basque Country, Brazilian, Canary Island, Caribbean, Dominican, Eastern European, Hungarian, Indian, Italian, Japanese Mediterranean, Mexican, Moroccan, Peruvian, South African, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Tuscan. (There are also group classes, if your recipient prefers that kind of conviviality.) See it in action!

One of my favorite finds is League of Kitchens, which features immigrant women from around the world who are experienced home cooks rather than restaurant chefs. League of Kitchens describes itself as is a “culinary dream-team of women from around the world who will welcome you into their homes, teach you their family recipes, and inspire you with their personal stories.”

League of Kitchens’ online cooking classes include an interactive cooking instruction session, a virtual dinner party, a packet with the instructor’s family recipes, and a video recording of the class. (For New York City-based learners, there are also in-person immersion cooking classes in the instructors’ homes, featuring lessons as well as a light lunch and beverage.) 

International cuisines represented include Afghan, Argentinian, Bengali, Greek (nomnomnom), Indonesian, Japanese, Lebanese, Mexican, Nepali, Persian, Russian, and Uzbek. Classes are $60/device, and you can buy gift cards so your besties can pick the cooking course of their choice.

This is just the beginning; the internet is full of intriguing cooking classes; review the courses for your recipient’s tastes and check the reviews. Other options:

Cozymeal offers live vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, and other healthy-option cooking classes for $29; you can buy a gift card in increments of $50+.

Traveling Spoon is an option if your giftees like to travel abroad and would like to have a cooking lesson with a home cook wherever they journey. Options include in-home meals, cooking classes, and half-day market visits. You pick the gift card, they pick the location. 

Speaking of travel, if your giftee likes to eat but (like Paper Doll) isn’t that enamored of cooking, another educational option might be gifting a food tour. Depending on the tour, one might learn the historical or cultural significance of different types of foods or dining experiences.

To find tours to give as gifts, use your favorite search engine and type in the recipients’ hometowns or wherever they tend to travel (i.e., where their parents, in-laws, or adult children live). Alternatively, for food tour ideas around the world, check out:

• 10 Best Food Tours in the USA
• 25 Best Food Tours in the United States
• 20 of the Best Food Tours Around the World

Similarly, winery and brewery tours might be just the surprise your recipients might enjoy to learn about their favorite adult beverages.

Learn for the Delight of Learning

Not all gifts of learning center around about doing. Sometimes, people just want to absorb knowledge, whether it’s about literature, music, and the arts, or about how the world has come to be the way it is.

The Great Courses is a perfect place to start, because there’s an absolute buffet of options, from history, literature, and language, to economics and finance, to philosophy and religion, to science and mathematics, and so much more.

Your recipients can take a (virtual) grand tour of England, Scotland, and Wales, or get tips on how to train a dog; they can get a handle on Norse Mythology or understand the Federalist Papers;  there are even language classes for those wanting to learn Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and more. The 2022 Great Courses Gift-Giving Guide is full of (currently) discounted course offerings — 537 of them! 

The Great Courses’ Wondrium YouTube channel provides playlists of video equivalents of free “ice cream samples” of various classes. Peruse them to spark ideas for which of your people would like which classes.

Courses are offered on online as “instant” audio or video (and on DVD!), and are priced anywhere from $29.95 upward. You can purchase a specific course for a gift, or buy a gift certificate so your giftees can choose what they like best.

Master Class is the ultimate option if you want to give a gift that’s educational but less academic. I’m sure you’ve seen the ads everywhere you go online, but in case you’re unfamiliar, MasterClass is a streaming platform where you (or, y’know, your recipients) can watch or listen to hundreds of video lessons taught by 100+ of the world’s best in their fields.

Master Class content is less like sitting in a classroom and more like being mentored by recognized experts. From business and leadership to filmmaking, screenwriting, and acting, to a melange of photography, cooking, music, sports, science and technology, and government, it’s all there.

Even within categories, there’s lots of variety. Does your recipient like music? Master Class has courses taught by Yo-Yo Ma, Big Nas, and Metallica. (Yes, really.) Bill Nye teaches Science and Problem Solving, Malala instructs on how to create change, and Gloria Steinem and colleagues present the evolution of feminism.

Melinda Gates teaches a course for using your powers (and money, one imagines) for good. From Indian cooking to how to think like an FBI profiler to courses on creating an athlete’s mindset to buying and selling real estate, your recipient will never get bored. From Neil Gaiman to Neil deGrasse Tyson, and from Jane Goodall to Christina Aguilera (and seriously, watch both those links to see how similarly these women begin their videos!), there should be something here your giftee will find compelling.

Master Class offers three annual plans: Standard, Plus, or Premium (at $15, $20, and $23/month, respectively, billed annually, though right now they’re offering a $180, 2-for-1 holiday special — buy an annual membership for yourself and get one free to give as a gift). The main difference is the number of devices one can be using simultaneously (1, 2, or 6, respectively), and if using the Standard plan, you can’t download the courses for offline viewing.

Gifts of learning are one kind of experiential gift; next week we’ll round out the gift advice with other alternative types of clutter-free presents that allow your recipients to have memorable, appealing experiences.

Meanwhile, please share in the comments about your favorite thing to learn. What kind of classes or learning experiences have you received, or would you like to get, as a gift? 

A good gift should be so much more than “stuff” that you end up having to dust or dry-clean, store or maintain. Over the past weeks, we’ve looked at clutter-free gifts in a variety of categories.

Holiday Gift List: The Useful and the Beautiful looked at practical gifts to help your recipients achieve their goals, be more productive, and get (and stay) organized. We also talked about how beautiful gifts uplift, support, stir action, lower blood pressure, and drive delight.

Paper Doll’s Holiday Gift List: Warm Their Hearts and Fill Their Tummies focused on two particularly categories, those dealing with yesteryear (family genealogy and legacy) and those to enhance the here and now. (Be forewarned, we’re not done with gifts of food, glorious food!)

Today, we’ll close out the gift ideas with gifts of experiences. Many researchers, including Thomas Gilovich, the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, have found that the enjoyment we get from experiential purchases far exceeds that of tangible items.

First, there’s the anticipatory aspect. When we think about what we will be experiencing, our imaginations fill in the details in a way that makes thinking about tangible items pale in comparison. While this has mainly been studied in terms of things we buy for ourselves, it stands to reason that things given as experiential gifts are endowed with that same anticipatory delight between when we get them and when we get to use them.

But there’s also a retrospective aspect. When we compare our “stuff” to someone else’s “stuff” (my iPad to your iPad, or even to your Surface; my sports car to your sports car) there’s little joy to be had. If what I have is inferior to what you have, it lessens how I feel about what I have, even  if I loved mine before comparing it with yours. And if mine is better than yours, well, the excitement doesn’t last. It’s just a thing. And very few tangible things retain their charm after weeks or months or years.

However, it’s almost impossible to compare different experiences (yours vs. someone else’s) because there are so many relative differences. You can, at best, compare your memories of your trip to Italy with someone else’s memories of their own vacation, whether to the same places in Italy, or perhaps to other locale altogether, but you’re far less likely to compare and feel your own experience to be unfavorable. Experiences, like the one who does the experiencing, are unique.

So, what experiential gifts can you provide to those on your gift list?

EDUCATION

The alternatives for gifts of education are almost endless, and you can choose experiences that benefit either the body or the mind (or both).

For example, I love Jane Austen. I’ve read all of the novels many, many times, and I’ve read many books about the author, herself, and others offering up critical analyses of her writing. I can’t get enough. So, for my birthday this year, at the start of what I’ve been hearing called “the sophomore year of the pandemic,” my friend got me The Great Courses‘ set of lectures on The Life and Works of Jane Austen.

It was just what I needed to burrow in for those last few weeks until spring (and vaccinations) had finally sprung. Instead of feeling like someone seeking one more Netflix show to binge, I felt like a college student (and trust me, for Paper Doll, that is a very good thing). 

Options from The Great Courses include: economics and finance, history, literature and language, philosophy and religion, music and fine arts, mathematics, and so much more. You can learn Spanish or how to draw, take a grand tour of England, Scotland, and Wales, or understand behavioral economics (and then please, try to explain it to me). From Dog Training 101 to Law Training for Everyone: Constitutional Law, you should be able to delight every adult on your gift list.

The Great Courses does offer their Programs for Young Learners courses, but these tend to be focused on high-school-aged learners; unless you’ve got a Young Sheldon on your list, get the young’uns the games and toys they’ve been craving. (Clutter-free gifts have less meaning to tiny humans!)

If you’d like a sample of the kinds of material you can find in The Great Courses, their Wondrium YouTube channel (formerly Great Choices Plus) offers free video tastes.

Courses are offered on DVD sets and online as “instant” audio or video, and are priced anywhere from $29.95 upward. (This week, all courses are on sale and there’s a 15%-off coupon code: K5H9.)

Another popular choice of course purveyor, one with a less academic bent, is Master Class. It’s hard to surf anywhere on social media or YouTube without seeing a promotion with Ron Howard, Alicia Keys, Neil deGrasse Tyson, or Neil Gaiman. However, in case you’re unfamiliar, MasterClass is a streaming platform where your recipients (or you!) can watch or listen to hundreds of video lessons taught by 100+ of the world’s best in their fields.

Categories of courses include business and leadership, filmmaking and screenwriting, acting, photography, cooking, music, sports, science and technology, government, and more. These classes are less like academic coursework and more like getting to sit in on a series of mentoring classes with recognized experts. 

Because these are digital/video lessons, the material is available whenever your giftee has time to watch, and wherever it’s convenient for them: smartphone in the carpool lane, tablet while cooking, computer during a lunch break, or via Apple TV and FireTV streaming media players.

Master Class offers three annual plans: Standard, Plus, or Premium (at $30, $40, and $46/month, respectively, though right now they’re offering a 2-for-1 holiday special). The main difference is the number of devices you can be using simultaneously (1, 2, or 6, respectively), and if you’re using the Standard plan, you can’t download the courses for offline viewing.

So, whether someone on your list wants to learn mindfulness from Jon Kabat-Zinn or philosophy from Cornel West, cooking from Gordon Ramsay or how to hit a high note from Christina Aguilera, there’s something to excite and charm.

But I get it. Not everyone wants to feel like they’re sitting in the front row of a college seminar. Some want the experience of learning by doing. That’s OK, because educational options run the gamut; if you can imagine learning it or doing it, there’s someone or some place that’s teaching it. 

Cooking & Food

Google “cooking classes” and the name of your recipient’s city, and chances are good that there will be classes taught at local restaurants, culinary schools, community colleges, and cooking supply stores. 

If your recipient is in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Dallas, consider Eataly. They offer classes and special events ranging from straight-forward cooking classes for adults and children to market tours where you can learn where the experts go, from butcher to baker.

However, if your gift is for someone who lives far from these kinds of courses or is wisely, cautiously waiting out the next surge in the pandemic, private classes by Zoom or Skype may be an option, locally or at a distance. 

While Sur La Table, maker of fine cookware, is better known for their in-store classes, they have a nice schedule of online course options starting at just $29/household. Would your culinarily-inclined friend like to learn how to make a Salted Caramel Lattice-Top Apple Pie? What about the Feast of the Seven Fishes (pictured below)?

Might they be interested in a 2-day croissant workshop or learning how to make traditional tamales? Each live 90-120 minute class is taught by experts via a password-protected Zoom session, so you (or your giftee) and the other attendees are free to ask questions as you follow along step by step.

League of Kitchens describes itself as is a “culinary dream-team of women from around the world who will welcome you into their homes, teach you their family recipes, and inspire you with their personal stories.” Their online cooking classes include an interactive cooking instruction session, a virtual dinner party, a packet with the instructor’s family recipes, and a video recording of the class.

International cuisines represented include Afghan, Argentinian, Bengali, Greek (nomnomnom), Indonesian, Japanese, Lebanese, Mexican, Nepali, Persian, Russian, and Uzbek. Classes are $60/device, and you can buy gift cards for recipients to use for the cooking course of their choice.

Goldbelly Live! Cook-Alongs offer a combination gift. You buy GB’s meal kits and the Goldbelly Live! cook-along classes are included. It’s live via Zoom, so you get to ask the chefs questions as you cook with the ingredients that arrive (the day before) in your meal kit. From pizza to dumplings to cookies, class-and-kit combos tend to range from $99 to $159. 

Want to give a more intimate cooking class experience? The Chef & the Dish offers private classes with “white glove” service. Pick your course by mood, dietary preference, or craving — options include homemade pasta, Pad Thai, paella, ceviche, jambalaya, baklava, goulash, curry, and more. Once you book, a Kitchen Assistant makes contact to host a personal Kitchen Prep Session to check the camera settings, review the shopping list, and answer any pre-class questions.

For more online cooking class ideas, check out The Spruce Eats’ post, The 8 Best Online Cooking Class of 2021.

Maybe the loved ones on your list, like Paper Doll, love to eat but aren’t such fans of actually cooking? In addition to the gifts I covered in last week’s post, consider experiential gifts like food tours. To find tours to give as gifts, check Google for your recipients’ hometowns or wherever they tend to visit (like where their parents, in-laws, or adult children live).

There are also national food tour companies, with operations in multiple cities. One option is Secret Food Tours, with domestic and international tours that blend food and culture. Gift vouchers can be used for group or private tours.

Similarly, winery and brewery tours might be just the surprise your recipients might enjoy.

Lest you think Paper Doll only has food on the mind, there are still more educational classes and tutoring you can give as gifts of experience, including:

• Music lessons
• Singing lessons
• Self-defense courses
• Physical education classes — Forget old-school PhysEd; you can gift your loved ones gym memberships in-person or online on-demand classes like at Obé Fitness. From aerobics to yoga, there are in-person and virtual classes for everyone on your list. Or, instead of a specific class, perhaps private fitness coaching sessions might please.

©Erik Brolin, via Unsplash

• Dancing — From ballroom to ballet, tap to jazz, if you know someone who loves to dance but might not think to buy lessons for themselves, this might be a dream come true.
• Horseback riding 
• Driver’s education — Local school districts have pared down their offerings; those that do offer Driver’s Ed often have four kids (and an instructor) to one car. For teens or adults, a package of driving lessons can help give the twin gifts of driving skills and confidence.

ENTERTAINMENT

As with last year, the COVID pandemic has made the choice of entertainment gifts somewhat problematic. Experiential gifts that entertain are still a great choice, but tickets to date-specific events can turn delight to dismay if there’s a cancelation. (This week alone, ten different Broadway shows and many musical performances around the country had to cancel. This weekend’s Saturday Night Live went on, but barely, with only two cast members, minimal crew, and no audience. Buyer beware.)

So, if you and your giftee are bold and willing to brave the possibility of cancelations and rescheduled events, consider experiential gifts like one-off or seasons tickets to:

• Sporting events — Hint: outdoor sports are somewhat less likely to be canceled
• Concerts — From your giftee’s favorite band to a night at the symphony, there’s a reason that the quote, “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast” has stuck around since 1697!
• Comedy clubs — because we could all use a reason to laugh these days
• Academic lecture series at local universities
• Theater — Don’t limit yourself to big-city theater performances. Consider local community theaters, universities, and even high school schedules for their musical and entertainment offerings. From a booklet of movie tickets to a big theatrical show, your recipient’s memories will live on after the big holiday night or Christmas morning.

Thanks to technology, and specifically streaming services, you can give experiential entertainment gifts that last the whole year. 

Start with the big platforms for TV. Get someone a gift of three months ($39) or a year ($119) of Amazon Prime, which along with all the other great benefits (including fast shipping), they’ll get a variety of original and beloved entertainment on Amazon Prime Video.

If they already have Prime, look to the other obvious options. Buy them a gift card for Netflix, or a monthly or yearly subscription to Hulu.

Instead of one of the big platforms, you could get them AppleTV+ for classics and original shows (including the absolutely hilarious and life-affirming Ted Lasso), Disney+ (for friends with kids or fans of Marvel movies), ParamountPlus (previously CBS All-Access, for those who love all of the Star Trek shows, and for fans of CBS programming, including NFL on CBS).

Some niche networks (like Acorn or BritBox for fans of shows from the UK) can be purchased directly or as sub-subscriptions through Amazon Prime Video. Because almost any streaming service offers a gift option, whatever kinds of viewing your giftees like can be delivered directly to them, wherever they are.

If the folks on your gift list are music fans, a Spotify Premium gift card for three months or a year is the obvious first choice.

For giftees who spend a lot of time in a (compatible and fairly modern) car, a pre-paid SiriusXM gift card is a fun choice for a ridiculously wide variety of streaming music, news, sports, and talk. (I’m a fan of their Radio Classics channel, which plays old radio shows from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, everything from noir to comedy, westerns to music.) And did you know that if you have a SiriusXM account, you can also play the stations in your computer browser? That’s a fun option even for those who don’t have cars!

Do you have movie fans on your list? If they’ve already seen everything on the TV streaming services, consider some of these more niche options.

Metrograph bills itself as, “the ultimate place for movie enthusiasts to experience prestigious film and content. Metrograph represents a special, curated world of cinema, harkening back to the great New York movie theaters of the 1920s and the Commissaries of Hollywood Studio back lots, a world inhabited by movie professionals screening their work, taking meetings, watching films, and collaborating together.”

A $50 gift membership includes Metrograph At Home, with live streaming events, special premieres, exclusive films, conversations with favorite filmmakers, and more. Members in (or visiting) New York City also get discounted tickets at the Metrograph Theater there. (Stream Metrograph via any Roku, Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Google TV and Chromecast.)

If someone on your list is a super-serious cinephile, The Criterion Channel might be your best bet, with gift subscriptions at $10.99/monthly or $99.99 for a full year. Criterion brings your movie buff one thousand “important” classic and contemporary films, plus a constantly updated selection of Hollywood, international, art-house, and independent films from major studios and independent distributors.

And if the folks on your gift list prefer the stage to the screen? To keep them entertained all day and night, whether they prefer Shakespeare or ballet, absurdist theater or Sondheim, consider a monthly or annual gift subscription to BroadwayHD, ranging from $11.99/month to $129.99/year. 

ADVENTURE

Adventure is in the eye of the beholder. For Paper Doll, Paper Mommy, and our ilk, adventure should be climate-controlled and have clean restrooms nearby. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we went to a Knight’s Quest-themed escape room.

For us, it was the perfect kind of “adventure,” as we didn’t need to buy a special wardrobe, and neither our hairdos or our bodies were ever at risk. As a private group (to better assure pandemic-era safety) we solved puzzles and laughed a lot!

We went to Project Escape in Marietta, Georgia, but almost every community has a few escape rooms these days, so you shouldn’t have to look beyond your nearest search engine.

Want a physical adventure that gets your heart pumping without having to set out into the woods? A recently exploration of my own city found that axe throwing is a thing! (Who knew?) In fact, we have three different axe throwing venues within 15 minutes of my house!

I’m not sure I could lift one of these, but apparently you get one hour in a lane with a target at the end…and an axe! It certainly does seem like a great way to get out frustration, so if you know someone who is feeling more “grrrrrrr” than “fa la la la la,” this might be their style. (Google “Best Axe Throwing Near Me” for your options.)

As always, adventure gifts depend on your recipient and your budget. For real thrill-lovers, zip lines and hot-air balloon rides might be just the thing. Your more athletic friends might prefer sporty adventures; for a reasonable gift, time in the batting cages or pre-paid rounds of golf might work, but for a big-ticket present, you might opt for a week at fantasy baseball camp.

For car fans, a ride-along at the NASCAR Racing Experience program or Daytona Speedway course would be a gift to remember. But if they might prefer a less adventurous car adventure? DriveShare lets you rent a fun-to-drive classic car. Type in your zip code, search the auto options, and book! (You might want to make a gift certificate for your recipient and let them pick their own dream car.)

And while things are still all pandemicky, consider gifts that allow for adventures with a social distancing component, like an annual National Parks Pass ($80) to explore the country’s great natural beauty and experience some elbow room. (Note: annual passes for senior citizens are only $20, and a lifetime pass for seniors is $80.)

A pass is your ticket to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites. Each pass covers entrance fees at national parks and national wildlife refuges, as well as standard amenity fees and day use fees for a driver and all passengers in a personal vehicle at per-vehicle fee areas (or up to four adults at sites that charge per person). Kids age 15 or under are admitted free.

ONE LAST THOUGHT—ON PRACTICALITY

Over the past three posts, we’ve looked at gifts that are exciting and special in different ways. But bear in mind that some of the people on your holiday gift list might actually appreciate practical gifts. No, not a vacuum cleaner or a toaster (unless they’ve really, really requested one for the holidays). But sometimes, a gift of something to make life easier really is a special present.

Drivers on your “nice” list would benefit from gift certificates for oil changes, car washes or detailing, and even annual memberships in AAA or their favorite auto club. Unlike the streaming entertainment services mentioned above, you generally can’t purchase a gift certificate for multiple months of internet, cable, satellite, or cellular service but you could gift your recipient cash earmarked for pre-paying those services. (If your recipient is in college or just out of school, this might be especially appreciated.) And if you really want to be a hero, you can definitely give the gift of computer backup services. (I’m a fan of Backblaze.)

Just because something is practical doesn’t mean it won’t be loved. As always, you have to really know your recipient.

Whatever you give (and get) this holiday season, I hope you have healthy, happy times with the people who mean the most to you! Happy holidays from Paper Doll!

As a professional organizer, my role in writing holiday gift posts is to encourage gifts that minimize clutter and maximize enjoyment. In general, that means focusing on intangible gifts, consumables, or gifts of experiences. And I’ll get to those (with classic advice and new surprises) next week.

But today, we’re going to look at how to give (and request) gifts that abide by a long-cherished mantra in the organizing community. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

Not everything in your life is going to “spark joy.” Not a tax return, not a well-thumbed thesaurus, and in Paper Doll‘s case, not a lemon zester or a casserole dish. Utility, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Only you know what you will find useful, but as a professional organizer, I can advise regarding what my clients find useful for reaching their organizing and productivity goals.

So, today we’re going to look at a sampling of gifts that are either useful or beautiful, or, when we’re lucky, both.

GIFTS OF GAMES TO REACH YOUR GOALS

Getting organized is obviously useful, but to people who aren’t professional organizers, it doesn’t always sound like fun. (Like, socks keep your feet warm, but unless you’re giving super-fun socks, like Bombas, the presents won’t always be received in a spirit of delight and joy.) But turning organizing into a game can make all the difference.

Duolingo and Language Learning Apps

On many Paper Doll posts, I’ve written about how I embrace Duolingo to learn Italian, and there’s research about the efficacy of the platform.

But it’s not the cute cartoons or the funny voices (or at least not only the cute cartoons and the funny voices) that help challenge me to meet my learning goals. Completing a lesson earns points. Completing practice earns points. Reaching the “legendary” level earns oodles of points.

There’s not a lot you can buy with the points (aside from a few lessons on idioms and flirting), but there are leagues and you can compete each week with other language learners to see who has earned the most points over the course of a week. (In theory, the points you earn represent diligence and knowledge gained.) While I don’t like to think of myself as competitive, per se, and don’t care if I land in the prize-winning top three of my weekly assigned league, I do like to see myself in the top half of the 25 people in my league by Sunday nights, right around when I’m writing to you readers.

You can study with Duolingo in your browser or on an mobile device in the app. Duolingo is free, but there’s an advertising-free Plus version you could buy as a gift for someone wanting a fun, gamified way to support their language learning.

(Other language-learning apps include Mango, Babbel, and Memrise. The Intrepid Guide also has a fun post, 26 Cool Gifts for Language Learners They Will Actually Use, and every item is either useful or beautiful, and many are both!)

Fitbit and Activity Trackers

I also use gamification to organize my fitness goals. Years ago, a friend gifted me with a Fitbit, which tracked my steps walked and stairs climbed. After the little device fell off in a parking lot without my realizing it, another friend gifted me an upgrade, wearable as a watch, and I can track my steps, exercise, quality of sleep (oy, vey), weight, calories, hydration, blood glucose, mindfulness, heart rate, and more.

Most Fitbit (and similar brands of) trackers and watches are pretty techie-looking, but there are some (like in Fitbit’s Luxe line) that are both useful and beautiful.

But what I like best? Each Monday, I start a “Workweek Hustle” with my best friend and her Gen-Z son. We can cheer (or lightheartedly taunt) one another, and write supportive messages. It’s social, but unlike social media, there are no photos or videos. We’re just gently encouraging one another to get moving. 

You don’t have to take my word for it. My colleague Janine Adams and her podcasting partner Shannon Wilkinson, recently did an episode of their Getting to Good Enough podcast on the benefits and power of gamification. In fact, I was all set to mention a new organizing “game” when I saw that Janine and Shannon had already covered it!

DeclutterGo!™

Declutter Go!™ is a just-released cube-based organizing game from our colleague Lynne Poulton. Her new goodie uses concepts from brain science and gamification to encourage people to achieve their organizing goals together. Each set comes with six colorful, two-inch, foam cubes representing stages in the game.

You’ve seen me say it before: action precedes motivation. You have to conquer some kind of obstacle to kick activation energy into gear. (You can’t just wait until you’re motivated, but some strategies of gamification can motivate you to get started!) Declutter Go!™ breaks down larger projects into smaller tasks and gives you that dopamine hit when you accomplish something.

The goal is to conquer clutter and reward yourself for getting organized. You roll the pink die to prep yourself for the activity, then either the green or purple dice (depending on whether you’re going to take action on residential or paper organizing). Rolling the yellow, peach, or turquoise dice help you determine how many tasks, the area in which you’re going to work, and what your reward will be. You can “divide and conquer” tasks separately, or work as a team.

Read more about how it works and take a look:

Declutter Go!™ is $24.95 (with free shipping in the Continental US). 

Of course, this is isn’t the only “useful” organizing game in town. You may recall another game from my post, Paper Doll Models the Spring 2021 Organizing Products.

Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards

Diane Quintana and Jonda Beattie‘s collaborative company, Release * Repurpose * Reorganize, developed the Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards. It’s a 52-card deck to guide you through organizing your home step-by-step, one 10-minute task at a time. (Again, gamification works best when it breaks down big projects into small tasks to give you that extra push.)

The deck includes two instruction cards to help you get started, plus 50 categorized task cards for coping with typical areas of a home, including kitchens, closets, bedrooms, bathrooms, family rooms, and similar spaces. The top of each card color-codes to the spaces covered, and tells you the space and task to be handled. The body of each card provides instructions for completing the task.

The Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards is available on their website or on Amazon for $19.95.

(Also, you should check out Jonda’s post, The 10 Most Useful Holiday Gifts for Disorganized People.)

Both of these organizing games are useful; I don’t know that you’d call Declutter Go!™ beautiful, but it sure is cute. And both it and Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time Deck of Cards will help you make your space more beautiful.

ORGANIZING CLASSICS: KEEP YOUR BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL THINGS FROM GETTING LOST

Over the years, I’ve written many posts about Bluetooth trackers and how you can keep your stuff from getting left behind (or walking away on its own in the guise of jam-handled toddlers or fetch-playing puppies), and the most popular brand always seems to come down to Tile. 

Tile

Tile has lots of different styles, but there are some bargains to be had if you want your trackers to stand out and look as beautiful as the items they’re guarding. The Rich Ruby Red Slim and classic Azurite Blue are 30% off right now!

If you or someone on your gift list is a little less into primary colors and a little more into the Elle Woods look, the Rose Pink Tile Slims are 40% off currently.

The above designs are from last year, but if your recipient feel strongly about being au courant, the suuuuper-thin 2022 Tile Slim is designed to work with passports and notebooks as well, and the black ones are 20% off.

Of course, Tile isn’t the only game in town, and if you refer back to one of my posts from last year, Clutter-Free Holiday Gifts for the Weird Year of 2020 (Part 3): Organizing Yourself & Others, you’ll see links to many of the other Bluetooth trackers I’ve reviewed…not counting Apple’s AirTags.

Apple AirTags 

I haven’t had the opportunity to review these personally, but I can share the basics. As with other Bluetooth trackers, you attach your AirTag to your possessions; it sends out a secure Bluetooth signal detectible by any nearby devices in the Apple Find My network. (Find My iPhone. Find My iPad. Etc.)

The devices (off of which the signal pings) will send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see your AirTag-attached item on a map, and get a warmer/colder set of instructions as you head toward finding it. The entire process is both anonymous and encrypted, so your privacy is protected. Here’s a funny little video about how it works.

Apple’s AirTags are are $29.99 each, or $99 for a package of four. Obviously useful, the Air Tags themselves are kind of monochromatic — and thus, to most folks, not that beautiful.

However, even AirTags, which are accessories for your devices and essentials, have their own accessories to make them more beautiful! There are even Hermes AirTag accessories! (And, not surprisingly, these accessories are even more expensive than the AirTags themselves!) For what it’s worth, I’m partial to the Wisteria leather key ring.

So, we’ve looked at what keeps you organized for your bulky stuff. But what about paper?

Tickler Files and Tickle Yourself Organized

Sure, there are all sorts of pretty ways to organize your paper, and that’s something Paper Doll covers all throughout the year. But longtime readers know that there’s nothing I recommend more often than tickler files, which I consider the most useful of paper organizing resources.

A tickler file is the best way to guarantee that all the pieces of paper that reflect tasks you have to perform, ideas you want to put into action, and information you want to convey…eventually…will await you until the day you need to access them. My favorite version is the Smead Desk File/Sorter Daily (1-31) and Monthly (Jan-Dec).

And, of course, if you or your recipient is new to using a tickler file, I’d be doing all of us a disservice if I didn’t mention my own little ebook, Tickle Yourself Organized. Yes, it explains how to use a tickler file, but it’s also an overall primer on keeping action-related paperwork straight.

(And if you have more than just action paperwork, if your piles of paper are making mountains and keeping the filing cabinet from closing, my Do I Have To Keep This Piece of Paper? is a nifty solution. The biggest reason people hold onto papers long after they’ve served their purpose is fear, primarily fear of not having a receipt or document when it’s needed. This ebook gives you the straight dope so that you can confidently maintain what you need and safely shred or discard the rest.) 

TIME MANAGEMENT CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

Appreciating the passage of time can be difficult, but if you can actually see time moving, you can  be so much more productive. Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know about Time Timer, which makes time (and the passage of it) visible.

On most versions, there’s a colored disk that diminishes in size as the set time is depleted. For adults and kids, both, it’s a superbly useful tool for getting a better sense of what time is and how it passes. Because of this, I really love all of the Time Timer products, but especially two items.

I’ve had a crush on the Time Timer Twist® since it came out. You turn the outer ring to set it for the desired time (up to 90 minutes), and then push “play.” The digital countdown is there, like with any modern timer on your phone or microwave, but what’s nice is how there’s a digital disk ticking down, with each moment “disappearing” as you get closer to your desired time.

It’s magnetic, so you can stick it to the fridge, microwave, or stove in the kitchen, the whiteboard or filing cabinet in the office, or any metal surface in your work or living space. 

It’s bright red, so it will definitely catch your (or your giftee’s) attention. And there’s even a pause function in case you get interrupted.

The Time Timer Twist is $19.95 at the website and a few cents less at Amazon.  

And while I can recommend all sizes and styles of the Time Timer, probably the others most suitable for holiday gifting are the colorful, beautiful Time Timer MOD Home Edition versions in Lake Day Blue, Dreamsicle Orange, Cotton Ball White, Pale Shale. (The soft silicone cases are sold separately, so you or your recipient can mix-and-match color schemes.)

GIFTS THAT ARE BEAUTIFUL FOR THEIR OWN SAKE

Things that are useful (for organizing, or for just achieving any goal or completing any task) can be beautiful. And while I can’t say that I excel at appreciating visual arts, I do believe that what is beautiful can also be useful. 

When something makes us pause, reflect, feel an emotion, experience wonder — that visceral experience of beauty is useful to us as human beings. It can stir us to action, lower our blood pressure, or make us laugh. 

Something that I’ve been finding beautiful lately is the whimsical art of Jami Wise at Moss Rose Art. My favorite of Jami’s designs is Leopold, a hedgehog who appears in her “Love and Hedgehugs” print.

Jami’s delightful designs are include a wide variety of themes, including holidays, graduations, weddings, and other special events. The subjects are often (but in a broad sense) from nature: flowers and trees and animals (oh, my!) — especially plump cats, dogs, cows, and chickens, often in unpredictable settings or with cute accessories (generally books or wine) — and they make me smile whenever I see them. 

For example, there’s Martha (the Cat) Reading Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and during the height of the pandemic, I told my cat-loving pals about her Social Hisstance watercolor, because I knew it would make them giggle. And while I don’t drink, I still find this next card design both charming and practical for sending a message to someone who needs it. 

Jami’s work is available as prints (including digital art prints), as well as on mugs, cards, magnets, and stickers. 

Call me a philistine if you like, but I even like my art to be useful, and I get more joy out of a magnet on the fridge I see each day as I open the door for my orange juice, or a mug from which I drink that juice, than I do from something I hang on my wall and forget to notice. But that’s just me.

(If you do acquire any of Jami’s creations, please let her know that I sent you. I won’t get anything but the joy of knowing I’m sharing her work with more people, but I do like the idea of organizing some holiday traffic in the direction of her online door.)

Finally, whatever “beautiful” gifts you give, remember that beauty is subjective. To keep something beautiful (but not inherently useful from a practical sense) from becoming clutter, it’s important to know your recipients’ tastes (and whether they have any wall space available for displaying art). If you find something that is both useful and beautiful and gives someone options rather than obligations, you’ll definitely land on the nice, rather than the naughty, list.

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I hope you’ve found some good ideas for how you can help your recipients achieve their goals —with presents that are useful and beautiful, practical and pretty. Next time, we’ll be looking at gifts of experience. Until then, please share in the comments your thoughts on these items and what you might like to give or receive.

 

 

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