Essential Gifts for Freelancers
It’s that time of year again. That time where we’re bombarded left, right and centre with copious amounts of Christmas content. As our resident spender (much to Laura’s dismay), Jess is going to add to that barrage with a handy list of essential gifts for your freelance friends.
Hello Time Planner
I bought one of these last year and it was a game changer. Freelancers are jugglers. Fact. And all good jugglers need to have organisation. The Hello Time Planners tick every box. They’re inspiring, the paper quality is great, they’re stylish and they’ve got solid space on the page.
£34.95 (and there’s 10% off if you sign up to their newsletters) - Hello Time
Keep Cup
This makes sense, right? We work predominantly from cafes or on the move with our laptops and, in the interest of kindness to the planet, a sturdy reusable cup is a necessity.
Laura and I both have hundreds of these but they always get used!
Priced from around £19.99 for a glass one - Keep Cup
Hot Water Bottle
When you work from home during the winter, you have one of two choices. You either suffer from hyperthermia daily because you’re avoiding having to keep the heating on all day OR you haemorrhage money on your gas bills by keeping it on. When you’re work for yourself, every penny counts so the former option tends to be the most popular. That’s why a hot water bottle is an essential survival ingredient. We love a handmade option and recommend heading to Etsy who have some crackers, like this hottie.
£15 including bottle - Etsy
A Fancy Water Bottle
Let’s face it. No self-employed person is likely to spend >£30 on a pretty water bottle. But it’s important to stay hydrated and it’s a well known fact (ha) that if you drink out of a pretty bottle, it helps the hydration process immensely. I am absolutely obsessed with these Liberty print Swell bottles and would happily own every single one of the designs.
£42 - Liberty London
“Proper” Tea
If you’re anything like Laura and I, tea is an essential for day-to-day survival. Whilst we’re a little biased (we’ve worked with them), teapigs will always remain a firm favourite. The quality of the flavours and the breadth of flavours they have twinned with the fact they have been plastic-free for YONKS AND they use proper leaf tea in their biodegradable tea temples (we can go on) makes it our absolute favourite brand. Plus, the team at teapigs HQ are bloody brilliant!
Priced from £1.75
Plants
It’s a well known fact that having a house filled with greenery is not only good for the soul but improves the quality of the air in your home. Laura’s house is exceptionally well covered for plants and I made it a 2019 goal to keep at least one plant alive for more than 3 months (it was a stretch at the time). You’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve smashed that goal and currently have 5 thriving plants in my house that have survived longer than 9 months so far - #adulting.
There are tons of great businesses selling plants for delivery. Patch is a firm favourite but we love to support the independents where we can and Martin & Cox Living Gifts is an incredible female-run business that is on the cusp of GREAT things.
Priced from £36
REN Get The Glow Radiance Kit
I swear by this REN collection and hold it almost wholly responsible for making me look more alive than I do when I first wake up most mornings. This beautiful set is a great introduction into it. Working for yourself often means you spend your life make-up free and indoors. Taking care of yourself is often neglected more than it should be.
£20 - John Lewis
Courier Magazine Subscription
It’s no secret that print mags are suffering but there are still some crackers out there that are well worth regularly buying. Courier Magazine is that for us. Courier is packed full of stories about start-ups and cool business news that never fails to get us fired up with ideas.
£35 for the year
Weekly Planner
If you’re into stationery, you need to know The Completist. There’s a design for just about anyone and the layout of the pages (aka the most important bit) is brilliant for organisation. We have different planners for just about every element of our business so in our humble opinion, you can NEVER have enough.
£12.50 - The Completist
A Pension Contribution
It seems like an odd suggestion, but too many freelancers and self-employed folk don’t contribute to a pension. It’s much harder to save for your future when you’re just starting out your own business or finding your feet with freelance work but it’s so important to set this up properly. That’s why the gift of a pension contribution can go far! Penfold is the go to for freelancer pensions and they have launched a “gift-a-pension” service to help make it even easier to invest in your loved ones future! This would be a great “bonus” alternative for clients to contribute to too!
Starting from £10
Mugs!
We defy any freelancer who says they have enough mugs. Being fuelled on coffee and tea (or mulled wine in the winter) means that a mug makes for the perfect gift for a freelancer. We’re a sucker for a fine bone china - in fact, we’re pretty darn fussy, and these mugs by HAM are our go to. This “working rabbit” design is perfect for a solo worker!
£14 - hammade.com
A Creative Planner
We’re stationery fiends if you couldn’t tell. These planners from The Design Trust are fantastic for freelancers, bloggers and creatives from across the industry. It’s packed full of prompts too to help give guidance on ways to navigate some of your business challenges.
£45 - The Design Trust
Prints Charming
Working from home means that your personal space becomes sacred. You can’t live and work in a space that doesn’t feel good and having great wall art is a quick way to add some character to your personal space. Through our Doer, Emma Jane Palin, we discovered Margate-based Telegramme and this print spoke to us. Loudly.
Priced from £35 - Telegramme
Pay on time…
We asked our collective what they’d want to be gifted by clients and overwhelmingly everyone said the only thing they really need is for clients to pay their invoices on time. This is important at any time of the year, but particularly at Christmas.
Priceless
