Work from Home Gift Guide

There are a lot more people working from home today vs. when I first created this gift guide. With that in mind, I’ve tried to broaden the scope to help people get more out of their home office, and ways to get out of the house!

Connecting with Others

One of the most common improvements you can make for your home office is a better webcam and mic. Here’s some recommended gear for that.

A Good Web Cam

I picked up the Elgato Facecam recently and love it. Great picture and lots of settings to make yourself look perfect.

If you’re looking for something a bit more affordable, the Logitech C920 falls perfectly between price and quality.

If you want to go for an upgrade, or your giftee is a streamer who needs that 4K quality, the Elgato Facecam Pro will get the job done!

For a CRAZY good setup, check out this Live Stream kit.

A Good Mic

Along with that, a good mic is also important. The Samson Q2U is perfect! Solid quality, great price.

If you’d prefer a headset, check out the Sennheiser PC 8 USB Headset.

The Blue Yeti is another popular one.

If you want to see more recording gear, check out my Podcaster’s Gift Guide.

Lighting

One surefire way to make yourself look better on camera is having good lighting. Your camera doesn’t have to work as hard to capture you, and you won’t look like you’re recording in a cave!

There are lots of lighting setups – here are some of my favorites:

Productivity Tools

Working from home can be tough – especially if there are a lot of distractions. But with the right tools, you can better stay on task (or at least easily pick up where you left off)!

Analog

Notebooks and analog tools are super personal, but here’s what I like:

Tomoe River Journal: I love the paper and how it lays flat. I use this for long-form writing and thoughts.

Theme System Journal: My daily journal. I love it. Wrote about it here.

William Hannah A5 Classic Notebook: This is my content planner. It’s pricey but SO worth it. It’s got lots of different refills and I use it every day. I went with the One Week Two Pages refill.

If you’re interested in pens, check out my Pen guide.

Digital

For digital communication, there are a lot of apps that I love. Here are a few!

Todoist (task management) | MindNode (Mind Mapping)

Craft (note taking) | Ulysses (writing)

You could grab an App Store Gift Card so that your giftee could grab some of these

Analog To Do System from Ugmonk

I’m an analog guy through and through, despite my penchant for technology. There’s just nothing like writing out a to do list and then checking items off.

The Analog system from Ugmonk captures this perfectly. Beautiful card holder, cards for Today, Next (which I use for monthly planning), and Someday (which I use for Quarterly planning), and easy storage. I feel like it was made for me.

Check out Analog from Ugmonk

Comforts of Home

Working from home also means you need to be comfortable. It also means office amenities are up to you. Making sure you have good coffee and a good, ergonomic work environment are important – both for productivity and health!

Cometeer Coffee!

I have a new favorite coffee, y’all. and It’s Cometeer.

They flash free brewed coffee into pods and then send them to you. Prefer for hot or iced coffee and super easy to make AND travel with.

And it’s darn good.

Other Great Beans

Gear

Everyone has their own way of making coffee.But I got a Nespresso last year and it won’t let you down.

If you’re buying beans you should also have a good coffee grinder. You can’t go wrong with this one: Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder.

Office Ergonomics

If you’re new to working from you, you probably haven’t invested in some important home office gear. The kitchen table or couch was OK for a temporary setup, but longer term, you need a more ergonomic solution. Here are some items that will absolutely make a difference in your posture. Your body will thank you!

Desk Chair! A good desk chair is important for someone who works from home. Steelcase, while expensive, make the best.

If you’re looking for something more affordable, the HON Chairs are popular.

Roller Blade Wheels for Office Chairs: OK here me out on this one. I didn’t think of it until I saw it on Twitter, but these wheels make the chair sturdier and easier to roll on carpets. I’m a HUGE fan of them.

Standing Desk. Sitting all day isn’t good for you (or your loved one). There are lots of sit/stand desks out there. I recommend Jarvis by Fully. It’s what I have and I love it.

I also have an E7 by FlexiSpot, and it’s fantastic.

If you’re looking for something more affordable, they also have a converter that sits on top of the desk.

No Hunches Here!

Something to elevate your laptop or monitor is great because then you’re not hunched over, very close to your screen. I love what Twelve South makes.

A good mouse

A good mouse goes a long way in ergonomics and productivity. The Logitech MX Master 3 combined both really well! Multi-device support, ergonomic design for comfort, and lots of programmable buttons to make computer use easier.

Keys, not bored.

Now, I don’t use an ergonomic keyboard(I have a Keycron K1 full-sized Mechanical Keyboard), but I’m an ideas man. And I’ve heard great things about the ergonomic keyboard from Microsoft. This is an affordable alternative to more expensive options, and you can improve the wrist posture!

If you really want to go the extra mile, you can get a monitor arm. The ones by Fully come highly recommended. I had this one by Amazon and it served me well. It still does, just as a moveable camera arm now!

At Home Tech

Having the right tech can make a world of difference. Here’s a bunch of recommendations that help me work, even with kids at home.

Backups and Storage

External Hard Drive:Everything we do is computer-based nowadays, so a solid external drive is necessary. I’ve used the Western Digital My Book for as long as I could remember. If you need more space, the 12 TB model should do the trick.

Cloud / Off-Site Backups: Another important aspect of working online is having solid off-site backups – especially if you work from home. There’s only one service I recommend for this, and it’s Backblaze.

Network Area Storage

I’ve been considering this for my home office: the Synology 2 Bay Storage NAS. Working across multiple devices and platforms, it would be nice to have a central, network connected drive for me to access. If you work from home, this can be especially nice.

Just a heads up that this the bay only – so you’ll have to get some hard drives too. For the total cost, I know some folks who’ve also on the route of a Mac Mini as their home server. But with the new price hike/refresh, I’m still going with this.

Portable Hard Drive: With “the cloud” there’s less of a need for portable storage, but I still like to have some on me. Here’s a few good suggestions:

Headphones

I recently picked up the AirPods Pro II and love them. They’re always in my pocket and for the time being, are the only noise cancelling headphones I keep with me.

If you (or who you’re shopping for) are more of an earbuds person, I’ve always been a fan of Skullcandy headphones.

My favorite noise-cancelling over-the-ear headphones are the AirPods Max. They are pricy but work better than any other headphones I’ve used (with my all Apple setup).

The Bose QuietComfort 45 Noise Cancelling headphones are fantastic. Whether you work from home, an office, or a coworking space, these will help you focus. And they’re great while traveling.

If you’re looking for good, sub-$200 headphones, I recommend the Audio-Technica ATH-M50s. They are lightweight, block out most noise, and sound incredible. They are also one of the few sets of headphones I can wear for a long period of time without getting a headache.

Other Helpful Tech

Things to keep your portable devices charged and docked are perfect desk decorations, so here are some fantastically helpful pieces of gear.

Power

Anker

If you need good charging solutions, there’s no one better than Anker. Here are a couple of recommendations:

Visit Anker Store

Hubs & Accessories

Satechi

Satechi makes sleek, powerful hubs that work great.

Visit Satechi Store

Stands & Holders

Twelve South

A great device needs a great stand. And Twelve South is an industry leader here.

Visit Twelve South

Grab bag

Misc

Some great things don’t fit into a box. Here’s the best of the rest:

iPad Mini

There’s not really a solid category for this, but I LOVE my iPad Mini. If you’re looking for a bigger gift for someone spending time at home. I can’t recommend this enough.

iPad Mini

Make Home More Relaxing

Working from home means finding creative ways to relax and make it more comfortable. Here are a few ideas.

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Good Clothes. Working from home means being comfortable. Sweats and t-shirts are great, but it’s also good to have some nice clothes for when you need to go out. Here’s a bit of both.

Nice Shirts: UNTUCKit. I have recently started to upgrade my wardrobe and UNTUCKit has been at the heart of it. Their shirts are perfect for me, and look great!

Unmentionables: Mack Weldon. Seriously. Their boxer briefs, undershirts, and everything else they make are incredible. I’m a huge fan. For Women (since Mack Weldon currently only makes men’s clothes), I’d recommend meUndies.

Socks: Darn Tough Socks. These are the best socks ever. Also, look, I don’t have these but they look amazing and I want them. Mahabis Slippers

Hello Fresh: A meal box subscription is the perfect way of saying, “You don’t have to Doordash everything.” There are lots of meal boxes out there, but I’ve heard the best things about Hello Fresh. These are especially good for households of 1 or 2.

Get Out of the House!

Working from home means finding your own recreation. Here are some ideas to pass the time when your remote worker needs to get the juices flowing or just relax a bit. Coworking Space Membership.

Treat Them to Dinner

Dinner Gift Cards

Send Them to a Movie

Movie Gift Cards

Try an
Escape Room

Find a Room

Or…

  • Find a Bed & Breakfast
  • Cigar Lounge
  • Wine Tasting
  • Museum Tour
  • Night out in the closest city
  • Gym or Club Membership

last updated: November 2022 | Containsaffiliate links