A Secret Santa in February is better than one in December

The office draw in the second week of December goes the same way every year. Half the team is at a client dinner, two people are skiing, and the gifts get bought in a panic on the way in. Move it to the first Saturday of February and the whole thing changes.

January and February are a hole in the calendar. Nothing is happening, it is dark at five, and everyone is a bit fed up. A gift exchange fills that hole nicely.

Late winter suits a draw better than December does

People have free evenings again. In December you are competing with school concerts, family dinners and three other office parties. In February the only competition is the sofa.

The shops help too. The January sales mean a 20 euro budget buys what 30 would have bought in November. And since everyone's Christmas spending is already behind them, a small draw feels like a treat instead of one more bill on top of the pile.

Give it a winter theme so it does not feel like leftover Christmas

Without a theme, a February exchange turns into Christmas with the tinsel removed. Pick one and the gifts sort themselves out. A few that work in the cold months:

• Comfort at home. Wool blankets, a tin of loose-leaf tea, a candle that does not smell like a pine forest.
• Winter wellness. Hand cream, bath salts, a hot water bottle with a decent cover.
• Indoor hobbies. A 1000-piece puzzle, a paperback, a beginner's embroidery kit.
• Warm things to eat and drink. Hot chocolate on a stick, a jar of homemade granola, a box of good soup.

Indoor hobbies is the theme to pick if you want people to still be talking about it in March. A 1000-piece puzzle of a Flemish village gets finished on the kitchen table over two weekends and then brought into the office to show off. No December gift gets that kind of attention.

Hold it on a weekend afternoon between late January and early March

That window is far enough from Christmas that nobody groans, and still cold enough that a blanket makes sense as a gift. Skip the week of Valentine's Day. Half your group will have other plans and the other half will pretend they do.

Send the invitation three or four weeks ahead with the date, the place, the budget and the theme in one message. Do it by email, since a group chat gets buried under memes within a day. A Saturday afternoon with soup and hot drinks fits the mood better than an evening event, and people with young children can actually come.

Ask everyone to create a wishlist with three or four things that fit the theme. It stops the buyer from guessing, and it means nobody goes home with a third pair of novelty socks.

What to give for 15, 30 or 50 euros

Under 15 euros, go for thick wool socks, a hot chocolate bomb, a small succulent in a nice pot, or a jar of homemade biscuits. Between 15 and 30, a coffee sampler from a local roaster, a fleece throw, a diffuser, or a kit for keeping houseplants alive. Between 30 and 50, a weighted blanket, a skincare set, a cookbook with the two hard-to-find ingredients tucked inside, or the first box of a subscription.

The price matters less than a line of explanation. A 15 euro gift with a note saying "you mentioned your feet are always cold in the office" beats a 50 euro gift with no note at all. Every time.

Make the afternoon worth turning up for

Dim the lights, put a pot of soup on, and have something to do besides opening parcels. A short winter quiz works. So does cooking together, if the kitchen is big enough. Or go round the table and ask everyone for one thing they are looking forward to in spring. It sounds twee, and it turns out to be the part people remember.

Take a few photos and share the album the next day. It makes the following year's invitation an easy sell.

Once you have a date and a theme, it takes a few minutes to organise a Secret Santa online. Set the budget, add the email addresses, and everyone gets their name without you having to fold paper into a hat.