Buying gifts for neurotypical people challenging?

I tend to try to brainstorm the challenge using mind mapping.

Start with a big sheet of paper (A4 or A3), write the task in a circle in the centre then start writing categories of gifts as balloons connected to the central task baloon.

From each category I would create a few sub categories (eg one major category would be books, under that would be practical, humour and enlightening as sub categories.

From each of these I would think of a few ideas per person - eg maybe my boss likes cheese so I can put a practical book in cheeses of the world as an option, Dilbery books under humerous and enlightening would be books I have read that were really good (eg Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

Another category would be food - sub categories of cheese, snacks, exotic foods, and booze being sub categories. A cheese board from M&S, exotic flavours of the persons favourite snack from Amazon, ingredients to make squid ink pasta and a bottle of a good wine cover examples of each of these.

This way you can do one intense session to get a shed load of ideas and keep this to re-use for any other present buying challenges you have.

Once you have the ideas, tracking them down can be the more fun part.

That's my way to do it at least.

I tend to try to brainstorm the challenge using mind mapping.

Start with a big sheet of paper (A4 or A3), write the task in a circle in the centre then start writing categories of gifts as balloons connected to the central task baloon.

From each category I would create a few sub categories (eg one major category would be books, under that would be practical, humour and enlightening as sub categories.

From each of these I would think of a few ideas per person - eg maybe my boss likes cheese so I can put a practical book in cheeses of the world as an option, Dilbery books under humerous and enlightening would be books I have read that were really good (eg Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

Another category would be food - sub categories of cheese, snacks, exotic foods, and booze being sub categories. A cheese board from M&S, exotic flavours of the persons favourite snack from Amazon, ingredients to make squid ink pasta and a bottle of a good wine cover examples of each of these.

This way you can do one intense session to get a shed load of ideas and keep this to re-use for any other present buying challenges you have.

Once you have the ideas, tracking them down can be the more fun part.

That's my way to do it at least.