It's the most wonderful time of year.

So why is it so stressful?

A big source of the stress for me is getting gifts for people. I'm currently poring over gift guides, begging my kids for ideas of what to get them and probably waiting until the last minute to order some K-Pop Demon Hunter junk.

Gifting at work is often fraught with minefields as well. Years ago when I was starting out, my then-managing editor, who was in charge of a few different magazines, gave me and my creative director holiday cards. I thought it was so nice that she thought of us! Then I looked around the desk clump and saw that she had given the other editors and creative directors she managed bottles of wine.

It's been more than 15 years, and I'm still seething.

It's a little thing—I'm sure they weren't expensive wines. It was more about the perceived favoritism. I no longer felt recognized. And when I rehashed it with friends and family (and anyone who would listen), people came up with a few different reasons she might have done that: I was new to the job, so maybe she didn't know if I drank. Maybe she had been working with some of the other editors for many years and had a more personal relationship with them. Maybe she just wasn't a nice person. (I voted for that one.) No matter the reason, it stung. And it colored my view of her, which ended up affecting my work, because I no longer enjoyed working with her. Anyway, a couple of years later, after I had moved on to a different company, I heard through the grapevine that she had been fired. Which has absolutely nothing to do with this story, but I enjoyed hearing it.

So, what I'm saying is, gift giving at work takes thought. And for property managers and marketers who want to give to their teams and maybe share some holiday spirit with the residents, there are things you might want to consider. Plus, how should you advise residents who want to recognize doormen, maintenance workers, property managers, etc. at your community? Don't worry. I've got you covered.

Suggestions for getting gifts for your team (or for other members of the apartment staff who you don't report to)

• Give the same thing to everyone on your team. (As mentioned in the story above, people notice differences. And they don't forget.)
• If you don't want to give everyone the same thing, and instead want to get everyone individual thoughtful presents, first of all, way to make the rest of us look bad. But second, make sure everything is of similar value.
• If you want to recognize someone on another team, for example if your facilities manager went above and beyond this year, do it privately and preferably off site.
• No need to blow your budget. Of course, everyone would appreciate a new Ferrari. They'd also appreciate a Starbucks gift card.
• Speaking of, don't be afraid of gift cards. They may be impersonal and cliche, but they also will be used, and people can get what they want.
• Be careful if you decide to get alcohol or edible gifts (especially homemade). Not everyone drinks. And as for food, you don't know if people are allergic, can't eat things because of religious reasons, or are picky eaters. And they don't know if you've rolled out those cookies after petting your dog who sheds everywhere.
• Try to avoid anything with religious connotations. You don't know who observes what. (Caveat: I don't celebrate Christmas, but I'm happy to take anyone's Reese's Santas off their hands.
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Suggestions for sharing the holiday spirit with your residents

• Go small, go generic and just show thanks. You'll never be able to please everyone, and you'll go nuts (and broke) trying. For example, ecards or paper cards are nice gestures.
• You can give small gift bags (per apartment, not per renter) with apartment-branded merch, gift cards or coupons to local coffee shops, or other little trinkets. You can also make those pun treat bags things, like fill a little bag with Altoids with a tag that says "You mint a lot to us." There are tons of suggestions on Pinterest.
• Don't use this opportunity to ask for unpaid rent or make business announcements. ("Happy Holidays! Don't forget that trash gets picked up on Thursdays!" isn't as festive as you might think.) That said, if you wanted to reduce everyone's rent, I'm sure that would be welcomed.
• Again, don't do anything with religious undertones. Or political undertones. Just, like, be cool.