The Best Gifts for Calm, Focus & Wellbeing

December 14, 2020 by Freedom

In a year like no other, the gift of peace of mind is bound to be at the top of everyone’s wishlists. And while the new year may not bring immediate respite, we are hopeful that 2021 will be the beginning of better times. In the meantime, we put our heads together with two of our favorite brands in the digital wellness space that are helping to improve people’s lives every day. The result is this ultimate guide to gifts that will help bring focus, creativity, and balance to the lives of your loved ones this holiday season.

Freedom, Brain.fm, and Caveday help workers focus around the globe every day. Our leadership teams got together to create a list of our favorite gift items. Here’s a collection of recommendations to help those hard workers in your lives make the most out of 2021.

There are no affiliate links in this article. These are just things we like.

Physical Products

When working from home, physical spaces become increasingly important. Thoughtful objects can help workers re-energize and create clearer boundaries with their work.

1. Gooseneck Mic ($20, Amazon)
2. Hourglass Timer ($30, The School of Life)
3. Plants ($25–100, The Sill)
4. Philips Sunrise Alarm Clock ($125, Amazon)
5. Growth Journal ($15.95, direct)
6. Japanese Citrus Minimalist Candle ($30, Brooklyn Candle Studio)
7. Snack Box Subscription ($25+, Snack Nation)
8. Full Focus Planner ($35-$100, direct)
9. The Time Block Planner ($22.50, Amazon)
10. Loftie Clock ($140, direct)
11. Purple Seat Cushion ($79, direct)
12. Screen/Life Balance bracelet ($40, direct)
13. Stress Relief Bundle (20€, Dept Store for the Mind)

Wearables and Health

“You get more of what you measure.” Performance tracking isn’t just for the quantified life-ers anymore. We’ve seen members of our communities transform their lives by using technology to build new habits, overcome their lizard brains, and regulate their nervous systems.

14. Komuso — Stress relief wearable necklace ($85)
15. Apollo Neuro — Stress relief wearable band ($349)
16. Oura ring — Health and Sleep tracking wearable ring ($299)
17. Whoop — Health tracking wearable band + membership ($288/year)
18. Peloton App– Use your own stationary bike with the app ($39/mo)
19. Strava– Running and biking tracking app ($5/mo)
20. Lief — HRV monitoring and coaching ($200 for 8 weeks)
21. Muse — Meditation headband ($200–$300)
22. Find What Feels Good — Yoga with Adrienne Gift Card ($10–$100)
23. Noom — Weight loss coaching app($150/6mo)

Software for Focus and Productivity

As Cal Newport said, “Deep Work is the Superpower of the 21st Century” and yet, it’s harder than ever to overcome distractions. In our communities, we’ve seen that most successful knowledge workers are the ones who are willing to leverage technology to help them find flow.

24. Superhuman – Email client designed for speed ($30/mo | $10/mo for Education)
25. Otter.ai — Record voice conversations, auto-transcribe, search ($8.33/mo)
26. Brain.fm– Music composed and tested for focus ($50/year)
27. Freedom — Multi-platform app to block websites and apps ($29/yr)
28. Caveday– Daily group focus sessions ($39.99/mo, giftcards available)
29. RescueTime Premium— Automatic Time Tracking ($78/year)

Books

Books are maps to new ways of thinking. The following list of evergreen titles has changed the way we think about our work.

30. Deep Work, Cal Newport ($16, Amazon)
31. Atomic Habits, James Clear ($19, Amazon)
32. How to Break Up With Your Phone, Catherine Price ($11, Amazon)
33. How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell ($26.99, Penguin)
34. The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp ($11.49, Amazon)
35. The War of Art, Steven Pressfield ($12.76, Amazon)
36. The Practice, Seth Godin ($24, Penguin)
37. It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work, Fried and Hansson($16.39, Amazon)