Whether you plan ahead or do a last-minute scramble to the store, it can be tough to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list. If you’re trying to think of something that your loved ones will actually use, this year think outside the gift-wrapped box and instead consider giving them a subscription to an online productivity tool or service. While it may seem somewhat uncommon to give a gift that’s not an actual “thing,” if you can make someone’s life a bit easier, believe me, they’ll remember you for it, way more than for giving them a traditional gift. Here are a few great online tools to consider giving:
Evernote Premium – This is a great tool that will let your loved one capture everything they find out in the world, on the internet, and on their computer, and integrate it all into one central spot. From there, they can organize their stuff to their heart’s content, as Evernote Premium lets you include virtually any file type into its database and then lets you search, sync, and share what’s inside across every device. It’s awesome, and awesomely useful.
ReQall Pro – For the frequent forgetter, ReQall can be an indispensable tool for capturing, transcribing, and organizing to-do’s, notes, and tasks. Set your loved one up with a Reqall Pro account and they’ll be able to use their voice to keep a record of the important details of their life and their work, and then access that information from any computer and many smartphones. It even integrates with Evernote!
Shoeboxed – Does your love one suffer from “paper scraps syndrome,” with crumpled receipts and mangled business cards stuffed at the bottom of their desk or buried in their briefcase or purse? If so, sign them up for Shoeboxed, who will send them a pre-paid envelope every month to collect all their scraps. Once it’s sent back to Shoeboxed, they’ll scan everything and put all the scraps into a searchable online database, making it easy to find every bit of information.
OfficeDrop – If your gift recipient has stacks of paper on their desk and no visible means of making them go away, OfficeDrop will make short work of the stacks by scanning every document and integrating them into an online document manager. Every bit of text on each document is indexed, making it super-easy to search for those important records, without creating a tornado of paper in the office.
Most of these tools offer a “gift subscription” or a way to purchase these for someone else. Giving the gift of organization and productivity can be really meaningful, as the recipient’s life can be improved every single day if they are using the right tools. As a bonus, they won’t have to find space on their shelf for that decorative plate you were considering giving them!
Guest Writer – Joshua Zerkel
Custom Living Solutions, the premier Professional Organizing & Productivity Consulting service for the San Francisco Bay Area, is dedicated to bridging the gap between the way you live and the way you want to live.
We focus on helping small business owners, entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants find easy ways to cut clutter, manage paper and email, get control over their time, and enhance productivity – all of which can help boost your bottom line. Custom Living Solutions provides measureable results and maximum return on your investment in organizing.”