As far as popular holiday traditions go, the Secret Santa would have to be among the last few surviving ones. Yet, in the midst of finishing the end-of-year reports and fighting winter blues, the pressure of Secret Santa gifting at work can be rather distressing. So, here’s our guide to help you find the right gift for the right person.

But first things first, have you ever wondered where Secret Santa originated from? Larry Stewart, an American who anonymously handed out cash to the less-fortunate during Christmas received the nickname of ‘Kansas City’s Secret Santa’. And it is this legacy of anonymous gift giving which continues on as the Secret Santa tradition practised the world over.

Whether you love it or hate it, Secret Santa at office is a good way to end the year, offering everyone something fun to look forward to. Are you ready to navigate the sometimes tricky gift-giving process at the workplace?

For the Boss

Nothing evokes warmth like a DIY gift. Set aside your boardroom differences and gift your boss something that is thoughtful and handmade. Whether it is painting, carpentry, or baking that you count among your many skills, roll up your sleeves and make something from scratch. More than the price of the gift, it is the thought behind it that counts, they say. Gratitude on your mind? No? Well, in that case, you can just pick up a gift voucher!

For the Frenemy

It’s all about appearances in this case. And everyone loves to look good – whether they care to admit it or not. So, how about gifting a face mask to your frenemy? It’s like killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand, it says you care enough to pamper them. It also says that you’re shrewd enough to know when they’re putting their best ‘face’ forward. The market is flooded with options for both men and women.

For the New Recruit

Want to make the new employee feel welcome and at home? How about tickets to a show, an exhibition, or even coffee as the ‘+1’ option? This could give you a chance to hang out, chat and bond. Even if your giftee doesn’t choose you to go with, it will still provide you with enough material for a follow-up conversation.

For the Work Buddy

This is, perhaps, the easiest and least stressful of the lot. You know him or her best, so this should be no challenge. In fact, you can afford to exercise your creativity here – a seemingly innocuous inside joke, possibly – without the worry of causing offence. Or else, how about an office aromatherapy kit? It’s an almost instant stress buster. Everyone on the floor benefits, plus you get brownie points for the ‘inclusive’ thoughtfulness.

For the Intern

Just because he/she is not a permanent member of the company yet, there’s no reason to make them feel left out. Right? Usually fresh out of college and raring to go, interns are a joy to gift to. You can encourage their enthusiasm and creativity with personalised notebooks, cute sticky notes or funky USB drives. Customised laptop stickers and souvenirs are good gifting options too.

For the Opposite Sex

If you feel like you are treading on a pretty slippery surface, we suggest you proceed with care. It is better to avoid any controversial gifts. In other words, no clothes, colognes, diet charts, or prank gifts. Instead find out if they enjoy tea or coffee more, and gift them their favorite brew. Best to keep it simple.

The not-so-secret rules to Secret Santa

While it may not be possible to please everyone, it is just as easy to offend anyone. Therefore it is important to make sure that you are not hurting anyone’s religious, political or personal sentiments with your choice of gifts.

Secret Santa isn’t just about the presents. It is a great way to bond with your colleagues in a more meaningful way. You could use this opportunity to show your appreciation. It’s about spending quality time with your co-workers, de-stressing at the office, and celebrating the end of the year on a positive note. Wish you a Merry Christmas!

In a world that is increasingly becoming more connected, only businesses that leverage the emerging ecosystems can stay relevant. For businesses to thrive – not just survive – in this competitive environment, it’s important to embrace the changing realities at work. With the contemporary rules of work, a coworking space could well be the conduit that germinates a good idea, giving it wings or wheels. The Awfis centre located at Sreshta Marvel in Hyderabad is a fine example of such a modern-day workspace. Here’s looking at the five pillars that support the making of successful modern-day workspaces:

Driving the spirit of innovation

 * Location
As cities expand in all directions, location is a vital factor that cannot be over-emphasised. Since attracting the best talent is key for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to stay ahead of the game, having an office in a strategic location is often critical to success; such a location offers easy commute as well as a business address that’s synonymous with ambition. The latest Awfis centre at Sreshta Marvel, in Gachibowli, Hyderabad meets the ideal location parameters and offers a prestigious business address which also serves as a window into the business’s vision for growth among potential clientele.

With its 200+ workstations at reasonable and flexible rental charges, located strategically in the heart of Hyderabad, the Awfis centre’s fully functional offices with hi-tech infrastructure invite a diverse workforce. The area isn’t just home to some of the city’s best IT and corporate parks, but also offers ample of recreational opportunities for professionals. This promotes interesting collaborations, networking and business opportunities between uniquely skilled individuals.

*Work-life balance

The nature of entrepreneurial work, whether you are working independently, with a start-up, or a mid-sized company, demands that you have a dynamic and flexible schedule.  Therefore, it becomes important that offices factor in this need for work-life balance or even better, work-life integration.

Ingrained in Awfis’s brand ethos, which is ‘Where work meets life’, the Gachibowli coworking space offers such a unique work environment by offering a sense of quiet as well as the opportunity to unwind with various formal and informal events. In fact, the collab zone is a dedicated area designed for professionals to come together and not just ideate, but also unwind together. It is often used to host community experiences, retail popups, festive celebrations or simply for networking within the community. Further, the centre’s location makes it plausible for professionals putting in long hours to step out for recreation and relaxation without losing precious time on commute.

* Design Philosophy

Conventional office spaces that house single organisations invariably suffer the brunt of hierarchy, isolation, and low self-motivation levels. On the other hand, community working promotes harmonious co-existence and collaboration opportunities, facilitating professional growth. Individuals thrive when they have an elevated work experience and exercise a degree of autonomy, essential qualities for a modern organization to succeed at fast decision making and agility.

Therefore, the centre is designed in a manner that individuals have equal access to both – a sense of privacy and quiet as well adequate interaction areas for discussions and inspiration.  It features functional seating plans, armed with contemporary work stations as well as a thoughtfully designed collab zone, cabins and meetings rooms. Bright, uncluttered and spacious, the coworking space adapts to the millennial mind-set. Sound-proof meeting pods on the other hand ensure adequate privacy for those one-on-one undisturbed conversations.

* Aesthetics

Aesthetics also play a key role in defining the energy of any work space and subsequently, those who work there. The Awfis centre is based on inspiration drawn from warehouse-type architecture known as industrial chic. The use of raw wood, industrial light fittings, Brooklyn-glazed partitions, texture paint, etc. create a mood that’s synonymous with collaboration. There’s ample storage space to eliminate cluttered work tables. The fixed desk spaces and premium cabins offer pedestal storage, white boards and pin-up boards, while flexible desk spaces are spread across the vibrant community table setup. Low-hanging bulbs adorn the ceilings, complementing the earthy hues of the mustard and grey interiors.

  * Products

Agile businesses demand access to state-of-art technology and infrastructure facilities, such as high-speed WIFI, video projection, video conferencing, high speed internet, laser printing and the like. The option to work beyond conventional office hours are the other vital demands.

Entry into the Awfis premises is allowed only through Near-Field Communication- (NFC) based access cards. This allows each member to work without any disruptions, and conveniently at the pace they choose. Just-in-time booking through the Awfis mobile app makes it easier than ever before to book the coworking space. What’s more, all members get access to the Awfis Rewards program. As South Asia’s largest co-working space, AWFIS is committed to delivering impactful and memorable coworking experiences.

Conclusion

Change is inevitable, but progress is not. Coworking spaces are paving the way for informal work environments that facilitate maximum productivity and nurture a learning-rich community of modern professionals. Because work should be a pleasurable activity, not a chore. Only then, can those great ideas translate into remarkable realities.

If you are looking for such a coworking space in Hyderabad, browse through the Gachibowli Awfis centre here.

The contribution of entrepreneurs to a society’s growth, both socially and economically, is unparalleled. And yet, recent studies by Michael Freeman, an award-winning journalist, have revealed that entrepreneurs are 50% more likely to report having a mental health condition. While there is a lot of debate going on around the topic of mental health, it is still treated as a secondary issue. How many times have you taken a day off because you weren’t in the right state-of-mind? You would most probably reject it as a lame excuse, right? The same cannot be said of a gnawing back pain, though.

While it is totally understandable that your job as an entrepreneur is riddled with stress and burn-out, ignoring them is never the right solution. On the contrary, it may lead to chronic conditions that does no good to anyone. Well, fret not; here are 5 mental health hacks that can help you enjoy a fruitful work life.

Build mental resilience

People generally view entrepreneurship as a cool job; you’re your own boss, after all! However, no one realizes the amount of responsibilities that comes with the job. Running a business is tough and may get to you at some point. This is why, it is extremely important to understand right from the beginning that entrepreneurship is much more than just having an optimistic outlook. You must be ready for all the failures and setbacks that are part of the entrepreneurial journey. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes at any stage in the journey. Patience and focus are crucial in dire situations, and only a strong mind can give you the emotional stability to stay put even when nothing seems to be going your way.

Involving in constructive hobbies can help you build mental resilience and cultivate an attitude of taking things in your stride. So, the next time you feel overwhelmed, just switch off and tend to your backyard garden.

Identify the stress triggers

Anxiety and depression are common outcomes of extreme pressure, and they are not to be taken lightly for they have the potential to shut you off to your job and even yourself. You might sometimes feel a compulsive drive to get things going, unfortunately at the cost of relationships and health. Also, irregular eating and sleeping habits and losing touch with friends because of work may seem natural, but they can very well be the early signs of impending mental health issues.

Hence, it is crucial that you proactively identify the triggers that leave you stressed and anxious. Once you have put a finger on the triggers, find out ways around them. For example, if working on complex reports is what triggers anxiety, allocate a time of day when you’re in a relatively fresh state of mind and don’t have too much on your plate, such as in the morning. Take breaks or even sabbaticals. If need be, seek professional help. Understand that there’s no shame in admitting that you can’t take it anymore.

Manage your workload effectively

Managing deadlines and dealing with unpredictability at work are two of the biggest causes of stress, as your success depends on how effectively you manage them. As an entrepreneur, you juggle a lot of things and sometimes, it may all seem too much to handle.

Therefore, you should understand the importance of working smarter, instead of harder. Prioritizing your goals, assigning small tasks to each goal, and scheduling them properly can make things a lot easier. For example, set out two days in a week for all your meetings, so you don’t end up wasting precious time in the logistics of it all, which is mostly unproductive. Also, efficiency is something that entrepreneurs live by. So, investing in solutions that can automate most of the menial work can help a lot.

Nurture a support system

Entrepreneurship is nothing short of a roller-coaster ride with as many lows as highs. Failures and setbacks are part and parcel of the trip. And most of all, it is a lonely job – of course, you have a team to support you but the brunt of it all is eventually yours to bear. This is why it is incredibly important for you to have people you can fall back on. It can be anyone – your wife, parents, friends, mentor, or even colleagues. Just make sure you don’t hesitate in reaching out to them. Conversations and dialogue have always proven to be the best solution to dire situations.

Take out time for yourself

In addition to being your own boss, don’t forget that you are also your best friend. Entrepreneurship is a demanding job, no doubt, but that doesn’t mean you don’t give time to yourself. It is as important to invest in yourself as in your business.

Exercising and eating healthy can have a positive impact on your mental health. Ensure that you do something every day that makes you happy, be it reading, watching movies, or exploring new places – whichever suits you. Get involved in projects outside of your work – it can be anything, from cooking and cleaning your room to being involved in outdoor activities like football or trekking. Just make sure you enjoy the process more than the results and, most important of all, give yourself the room to make mistakes. It will keep you motivated and certainly help you deal with stress and anxiety.

Conclusion

Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of passion and commitment, and along come incredible amounts of stress that can affect your peace of mind. There is so much at stake; therefore, taking care of your mental health is crucial. After all, if you are not fit, the health of your business is also bound to take a hit.