Leadership / 11.24.20
10 Things to Buy for the Home Office Worker in Your Life
Teddy Durgin
Teddy Durgin
’Tis the season to give thanks, wind down the last year … and compile one’s holiday gift wish list! Whether asking for yourself or buying for a loved one, friend or colleague, the upcoming December holidays might be a bit easier to shop for if you consider the stale, dull and impractical home offices so many of us have been working in this past year.
If Santa is coming down the chimney this year not into a living room but a home work space, hopefully his bag will be full of items like these:
The Whimsical
1. Are you a “Star Wars” fan, but don’t necessarily want another Baby Yoda tchotchke? How about the sorely under-merchandised giant space slug that the Millennium Falcon escaped from in “The Empire Strikes Back”? Regal Robot has crafted a desk sculpture out of that classic scene that doubles as a pen holder and desk organizer. It also comes with its own Millennium Falcon pencil topper and pencil. Buy it for me … I mean the “Star Wars” home office worker … in your life here.
2. The holiday season is also cold and flu season (and there’s a certain other virus competing for attention, too, of course). So, you’re likely going to need tissues at your desk. Why not add a little whimsy to your coughs and sniffles with this Rubik’s Cube-shaped tissue dispenser?
3. Not all of us can work at a beachfront bungalow near an ocean. But maybe you can bring the Atlantic or Pacific to you. Consider installing this relaxing ocean waves projector to your home office that projects calming tides onto your ceiling and nearby walls.
4. If you wear eyeglasses, chances are you’re going to have eye strain at least once or twice a day. And that means you’re going to take off your glasses, lay them down and take a little break. Take it from me — a four-eyes since the mid-1980s — it’s easy to misplace them (er, especially as you get older). So, why not have a whimsical eyeglasses holder stand shaped like a cute cartoon puppy dog right there on your desk? Behold here.
5. There’s a great line of dialogue in James Cameron’s “Aliens” where Sigourney Weaver and a bunch of tough space Marines have been nearly wiped out by hordes of bloodthirsty creatures on a distant planet. When asked for options, Weaver’s Ellen Ripley replies, “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.” The year 2020 has made some of us feel the same way. Also, you need a desk light! So, why not buy this one shaped like a nuclear bomb blast?
The Practical
6. This might be my favorite thing on this list. It’s a “Do Not Disturb” door hanger that is also a dry-erase whiteboard. The hanger lists choices that can be checked to alert people on the other side of your office door why it’s closed; how long it will be closed; and whether to “whisper,” “do not knock” or “other.” Here’s the link.
7. Remember when you worked in an office and, at times, you had to stand in line and jockey with others for a hot cup of Joe? Or, there were times where you just wanted to get your morning coffee and return to your desk but colleagues were mulling around the machine wanting to talk about their weekend or “the big game” last night. If that’s the case, a perfect gift for the home office worker this holiday season might just be a Keurig coffee maker. You don’t even to have to share with your spouse. Buy it here.
8 Are you or someone you know obsessed with keeping your workstation as clean as possible? Then the Oxo Good Grips Sweep & Swipe Laptop Cleaner is the perfect gift this Christmas or Hanukkah. This ultra-affordable, double-sided tool deep cleans laptops, tablets and smartphones. Amazon has the best price here.
9. Tired of being seen in an unflattering light during Zoom meetings thanks to your standard-issue laptop webcam? Ask Santa this year for the Razer Kiyo. With full HD capability and studio-like lighting, this ultimate desktop streaming camera is great for video calls … and for your vanity.
10. Working from a home office, there is a tendency to sit much more than you would than in a commercial workplace. Consequently, one of the best gifts you can give or be given this holiday season is the Everlasting Comfort Office Foot Rest. This soft and comfortable foot rest with memory foam will provide pain relief for feet, calves, hips and sciatica. Check it out here. Your toes will thank me later.
Of course, No. 11 on this list — and the greatest stocking stuffer ever — would be a vaccine that gets us sitting elbow to elbow again and enjoying live sports and entertainment. That's not too much to ask, is it Pfizer ... er, Santa?
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Tags: Leadership , Workplace , COVID-19 , Coronavirus