If I’m being straight up honest, I love gifts. Mostly, I love getting gifts, just ask my wife. A big reason for that is because choosing gifts to give is just not easy and well, I’m thinking I’m selfish. When giving, there are so many choices! Gift giving is challenging. This post hopefully has relevant 2020 gift ideas for you. As a side note, if you are reading this, you are in an exclusive club of one. That’s relevant because none of these products are sponsored, obviously. These are just things I like and have found very helpful to an office professional, frequent traveler, and home office warrior. My selection criteria were based on the following major categories: Travel; Connection (Coffee – should always have its own category); Office; Mind, Spirit, and Inspirations; and Fitness/Body.

Gift Ideas for Travel

In 2019, I believe I traveled around 200,000 miles in the air – not exaggerating. I went everywhere from Alaska (5 times), Dubai, Jordan, Seattle, New Jersey, Florida, and more. 2019 wasn’t an unusual year. My travel schedule, outside of 2020, has been heavy for the last 20 years or so. Over that time, I’ve gone through thousands of dollars in luggage. Whether or not you are checking your bag, or carrying it on, over time, they just get beat to pieces. The following are just a few gift ideas that are especially useful for heavy travelers.

Gift Idea 1: Roam Luggage – https://roamluggage.com/

Roam and Away are two brands that seem to be gaining popularity and for good reason. They are both higher quality builds with convenience in mind. They are at the higher price point (see pic below from Roam for one of their smaller cases), however, the quality of the build is substantially better than the Walmart specials we’ve all bought in a pinch. I have the Roam case and I love it. You can customize the color and like mine, personalize it with your initials.

The interior compression system is straight money. The case overall is very light weight, the wheels glide on the floor, and the zipper system is waterproof. Simply put, I love this case. I plan to get the larger size at some point in the future. My wife got me this a while back and it’s one of my favorite gifts. Very useful and high quality.

Cost: $500+

Gift Idea 2: Personal Hygiene Kit

Roam has “The Roam Kit.” I don’t have this, but do have other travel kits that are useful for personal hygiene. Away and Leatherology both have well made options. The concept is simple, no one has any interest in having toothpaste or soap slathered all over your work clothes when you arrive at your destination.

Cost: $100+

Gift Idea 3: Personal Diffuser

Ok, so I must admit here, when my wife started to get into essential oils, I wasn’t sure how much I was into it. Wasn’t against it, just didn’t have a good understanding. I’d joke with her and call it her voodoo juice. Early on, the smells were limited, and I wasn’t always a fan. Through the years, the benefits of essential oils have become much more well-known and proven, and they’ve made a ton of advancement in the types of oils, smells, and more. I now dig them. 

With the 2020 pandemic, the necessity of a healthy lifestyle is magnified. As travel starts to kick up, any weapon we can use against unhealthy air is a good consideration, especially at a reasonable price point. Young Living Essential Oils has a Personal Diffuser that can be useful on trips and they even have a USB diffuser. I can see plugging the latter into your computer in a hotel room while on the road. The links to both follow. 

How to buy: https://www.myyl.com/stephanie-herren Go to this link and you can find the “Gentle Mist Personal Diffuser” and the “USB Diffuser” along with the oil kits that can be used in the products. Going through Stephanie, as a Senior Star member gives special discounts, and more. Plus, she knows her stuff. 

Cost: $50ish for each

Gift Ideas for Connection (Coffee)

Every day around 2pm, a key program manager in the company I work with drops by my office for a 15-minute coffee break. He’s a guy with great stories and great social connections in the business. Sitting with him gives me an idea of the temperature and pulse within the company. There’s power in connection. Working from home or an office, as leaders, finding ways to connect is valuable. There are few better tools than a good cup of joe!

Gift Idea 4: Coffee – My Favorite Kinds

Yes, being a coffee snob is a thing and yes, that’s me. I’ve found that unknown, but high-quality coffee brands are excellent conversation starters. Sort of like comparing fine wine. Having a “coffee” club atmosphere where you share and try different brews, flavors, and brands can be a great connection tool. Here are a few ideas to try and are sure to spark some conversations.

Kaladi Brothers Coffee – Red Goat: This is sure to raise an eyebrow. It takes some trial and error to get the brew mix correct to your liking. This company is from Alaska, where I’m originally from. And like most things in AK, there’s a bit of a big kick to it. This is a unique taste. When I first started to drink it, I wasn’t a fan. Over time, I learned to appreciate it. https://kaladi.com/

Steam Dot Coffee: The Aprocossi from Peru is very good and unique. But like any coffee, give a few flavors a try. Give some out to your teammates and see what they think. It’s great for conversation. 

https://steamdot.com/product-category/coffee/

Others to Consider: Black Rifle Coffee Co, 1869 (from Folgers, yes, Folgers – but it’s pretty solid), EOTE coffee out of Oklahoma City (this one can be great, and not so great – trial and error).

Gift Idea 5: A Chemex “3 Cup” 

There’s something more sophisticated and personal about pour over coffee. Setting this up in your office can be a cool thing. When someone comes in for coffee and they see you taking the time to warm the water, wet down the filter, take the time to get the coffee grounds measured right, and then the process of pouring over by hand, there is a personal connection to it. Shows the person you care about the details. Shows the person you care about them.

There are various sizes to these. For a work setting, I recommend the three-cup option. Why? Time is important and finite. Limit to three and we can control the length of the visits. You don’t waste their time nor your time. But we still get to enjoy a nice brew.

Cost:  $40ish

Gift Idea 6: Chemex “Chettle”

If you plan to get number 5 on the list, go ahead and make this purchase happen. It’s elegant, precise, office friend, and makes you look like a straight coffee gangster.

Cost: $149.99

Gift Ideas for the Office (Home or Away)

Gift Idea 7: Office Diffuser

Listen, assuming you take the plunge and get some essential oils, getting an office diffuser makes some sense. I have one in my office at work and one in my home office. They generate a great ambiance as they have a variety of soft lights with varying colors. They also produce a nice look of steam (comfort) and pleasant smells. These diffusers are a great mix of peaceful and heathy. We could all use more peace and health, especially in today’s environment!

https://www.myyl.com/stephanie-herren

Cost: $50ish

Gift Idea 8: Moleskin Notebooks

I have an iPad and use Notability a lot and it’s very convenient. Plenty of obvious benefits to having notes automatically stored. However, there is still something about writing on paper. Did you know Michael Jordan bought a pair of glasses for the simple purpose of making him look smarter in business deals? There’s something to be said for the appearance of things. There are times where a nice notebook and pen are very appropriate and stand out. They fit the professional setting in an office very well. Personally, I think every well-kept office should have a nicely built notebook or journal sitting on it. I like the ones from Moleskin. There are numerous options to choose from.

Cost: Varies – Figure $50

Gift Idea 9: A Nice Pen – Yes, A Real Pen

I love this pen from Grovemade. There are a couple more product below to consider from Grovemade. They make great stuff. For my wife’s birthday this year, I bought her this pen and it sits on her desk. You know how some pens write and look in a way that makes you feel more creative? That’s what this pen does. Pair it with a nice notebook and you won’t help but have your best thoughts!  

Cost: $60 – $120

Gift Idea 10: A Nice Headphone Stand

An office and professional cannot have enough headsets and headphones today. Seriously. I have a set for each phone, a set for my iPad, and a set for my PC/Laptop. Bluetooth technology is great, but the connections can be unreliable at times when switching back and forth. And consider how the entire world lives on Teams, Zoom, or Go-To-Meetings, having a good audio set up is necessary. Bonus gift – get some nice headphones. And when you get them, get a nice headphone stand.

Cost: $140 (for the grovemade)

Gift Idea 11: A Desk Pad – Another Grovemade Product

These are great products and add a professional and clean element to your office. Again, another Grovemade product and one we use here at our house. A lot of these gifts set up a theme in your place of work. The theme is clean, professional, welcoming, and conducive to awesomeness.

Cost: $100 – $300 depending on size/type of desk pad.

Gift Idea 12: Wireless Chargers

Ok, if you hate searching for chargers, fiddling with plugging in, and having wires everywhere as much as I do, this is for you. These are great! And if you buy this for someone, they will find it amongst their most useful gifts. I have them on my nightstand, I have some integrated with lamps, and have stand alone ones on my desk. This one, again, from Grovemade is wonderful. Looks elegant and fits the theme we talked about. No more hunting cords down. Get this done!

Cost: $120

Gift Ideas for the Mind, Spirit, and Inspiration

Gift Idea 13: Books

A healthy executive, leader, businessperson, athlete, essentially everyone needs a strong mind. In my youth, I was never a big reader. As I’ve gotten a little more experienced, I’ve learned that reading is invaluable to us. In fact, if I need to prep for a speech, a letter to employees, etc. I often increase the time I spend reading. Reading opens our minds, inspires, encourages, sparks creativity, and more. There is truly a ton of power in words. Books are a wonderful option as a gift. Here are some on my reading list that I’ve found useful in developing a heathy mind and spirit while providing great leadership lessons.

Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln by James Humes

This is a great book that I use as a reference guide for public speaking and general communication. Highly recommend not just reading it once but keeping it on the shelf to refer to constantly.

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson

A story about King David’s bodyguard. This is still my favorite Batterson book.

Great Teams, 16 Things by Don Yaeger

The Captain Class, A New Theory of Leadership by Sam Walker

These two books are great books about high performance teams. I’ve been really interested in how to apply principles and characteristics of high performing sports teams to the business world. These books give some insight into a winning mindset. Both are very compelling books to read about high performance…The Leave No Doubt Mindset.

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle

This book studies the theory of culture and its impact to an organization. Like the sports books, this author explores high performance and highly successful groups. One common theme from the sports books, this book, and others like “Team of Teams,” is the concept of shared purpose or consciousness between team members and how powerful that can be. I found this book thought provoking and insightful.

Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch Albom

If you’re interested in a quick read give this a try. There’s an innocence about it. I read it during the pandemic while the fragility of life was on the forefront of most minds. This added an additional connection to the subject character of the book. This was endearing, well written, and makes the reader re-think his/her priorities.

This section was hard because I have a ton of books that I’d recommend. These made the cut for now and they make great gift ideas.

Gift Ideas for the Body

Gift Idea 14: Fitness Gifts

Nothing specific in this section. Professionals, executives, and businesspeople have demanding jobs. It’s healthy to maintain a commitment to a healthy mind, spirit, and body. With telework more prominent today and traditional gyms used less frequently, home fitness is popular and necessary. Some ideas: Treadmill, Peleton Bikes, Garage Gym Equipment, Calm App, and other web-based fitness subscriptions.

Cost: Varies