Mental Health Monday: Gift ideas to overcome stress and supply chain worries

With Christmas less than three weeks away, many holiday shoppers in the Okanagan are experiencing the stress of securing gifts from a supply chain crippled by a number of factors, including B.C.’s recent devastating floods.

“If things are not coming on time or they are not available or overpriced due to supply chain issues, there are other solutions,” Katherine White told Global News.

White is a University of British Columbia professor of marketing and behavioural science at the Sauder School of Business.

While the current supply chain strain has some holiday shoppers frantically checking their phones for shipping updates and worrying about which supplier will have that perfect gift in stock, she has suggestions for alternate gift ideas.

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“You could reuse items, you could repurpose items, you could recycle items before buying gifts,” White suggested.

White sees the challenge as an opportunity to lessen your impact on the environment while increasing the impact of the gift you give to a loved one.

“It could be something as simple as getting your kids to make crafts as gifts out of found items around the house,” White explained.

“It could be making cookies or writing a poem. It could be making a coupon book that has things like I will walk your dog for you or I will take you to lunch,”.

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According to White, these types of ‘gifts from the heart’ — as opposed to items from a big box store — are often more memorable.

“Could you get someone a massage or babysitting or a housecleaner for a day or tickets to an event they would enjoy?” White said.

“There’s research that show that experiences make people more happy with what we received that do tangible goods,”.

This small shift in shopping could help reduce some stress as you try to navigate a supply chain crisis amidst another COVID-19 Christmas.

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“It also has the nice added benefit of perhaps making a more meaningful connection with others,” White said.

A gift, that we could all use this Christmas.