It’s that time of year friends! I feel like grad students are notoriously hard to shop for, especially since most of us spend almost all of our time studying in our free time (oops! 🙈) So, here are some of my favorite grad school centered products for the grad student in your life!
Pomodoro Timer
If you haven’t heard of the pomodoro method, it’s a productivity method where you work for a set amount of time and then take periodic breaks throughout! It’s a method works for me especially when I need to get through tough slogs of writing or data work! Though we now have tons of timers available to us, I find that having a physical pomodoro timer that I can see right in front of me really helps to keep me on track and I’m sure many other grad students would appreciate it as well!
Spotify Subscription
One of the best things I’ve invested in during my grad school years is a paid Spotify subscription. I’m constantly listening to podcasts and music while I’m working and not being interrupted constantly by ads is wonderful for maintaining focus. In grad school, it’s vital to be able to focus for extended amounts of time and having uninterrupted access to great lo-fi playlists has been a god send!
Noise Cancelling Headphones
I know I’ve said this a thousand times at this point but I really can’t emphasize it enough. Noise canceling headphones are a game 👏 changer 👏 if you want to be productive and not get distracted by every person that walks by your office! Personally, I own both the BOSE Q35 over ear headphones and a pair of Airpods Pro that I use on daily basis.
Meal Kit Services
One of the easiest ways to support a stressed out grad student is by buying them a meal or two! I’m really fortunate to have a partner who is super supportive and does most of the cooking for us, but for busy grad students who don’t have that kind of support, a meal kit service makes a world of difference because it saves them time and energy but still allows them to make their own healthy, home-cooked meals.
Planners & Notebooks
I feel like you can never go wrong with a planner or a notebook - there are always so many thing to organize in phd life and studies show that writing things down by hand are the key to getting things done. My favorites right now are the Erin Condren weekly planners, The Daily Page, and the Day Designer!
Robot Vacuum
Right before I started my PhD program, my fiance gifted me the cutest little robot vacuum and it has quickly become one of the best things I own. I’m not a naturally clean person so being able to just let our robot vacuum run around the apartment while I’m doing other work (or being a blob on the couch) is amazing 🤪
Grad School Themed Books
I received a number of grad school themed books from friends and family before and during the first couple of years of my PhD program. I always found these books to be such thoughtful gifts because it really showed that they understood how stressful grad school life could be and wanted to gift something that pass down wisdom from academics who have been through the process before. I also highly recommend them in general if you’re a 1st generation grad student - there are a lot of unwritten rules in academia and these books are extremely helpful if you don’t have a social network that can help you along the way. The two books I still reference and use the most in grad school are The Professor is In and Graduate Study for the 21st Century.
I hope this little gift guide was helpful for giving you some ideas for your grad student friends and loved ones! HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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