18 Best Gifts for Working Moms: Work from Home Edition
Inside: Best gifts for working moms working from home. Help your working mom friends live their happiest, healthiest, and most productive life from home.
Hey Siri, show me the best gifts for working moms, please!
(Does anyone else use their manners when talking to robots or is that just me? I not so secretly think they’ll give me better answers if I’m nice…)
And in this case, those manners paid off because you found what you’re looking for! Below is a list of the top gifts for working moms who are juggling all the balls and making all the things happen while working from home this year.
Treat that lady in your life (or yourself!) with something that will make her work day easier, healthier, happier, and more fun!
18 Best Gifts for Working Moms
This post contains affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn a commission on qualifying purchasesÂ
Working Mom Gifts For Getting Work Done
Lap Desk
Ergonomic experts will tell you not to work from your couch and instead to sit upright or stand. More on that below! BUT, that doesn’t mean work from home doesn’t look like work from couch sometimes around here.
If the work from home working mom in your life also enjoys some couch working, a lap desk can be a handy gift. There’s space for a mouse, a laptop, and a phone on this one which makes work much more efficient. And isn’t that the best gift of all, time!
Standing Desk
This working mom gift is definitely a big-ticket item so we’re talking birthday + Christmas + Arbor Day for the standing desk.
If the kids are at school/daycare/with a spouse, family member, or nanny during the day, you aren’t going to be getting up out of your seat a lot when you’re working from home. There are no meetings to walk between, or people to pop down the hall to collaborate with, so basically you are stationary.
Stationary feels nice for a while, but it’s not great for your health. Enter a standing desk! It’s not exactly marathon running, but standing up for period of the day instead of sitting for 7, 8, 9 hours is way better for you.
If you’re gifting yourself or someone you love with a standing desk, I recommend going with a model that offers the option to sit or stand. I use mine both ways and love the flexibility of it.
Working Mom Gifts For Staying On Top of Things
To-Do List
I know, I know, what working mom needs another to-do list?! But hear me out on this one.
To do lists on your phone and computer are great because they are with you all the time, but there’s something about a cute to-do list that sits on your desk reminding you of your priorities for the day. It’s like a little bit of helpful desk decor! (Especially helpful if your working mom friend needs to snap an instaworthy photo of her desk and post with hashtag #momboss.)
I can’t find my cute to-do list online but it was a gift from a work friend and I adore it. There are pretty flowers along the edges and at the top there is a quote from Vincent Van Gogh. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” If I find it somewhere I’ll let you know!
Notebook or Journal
Speaking of pen and paper writing, a notebook or journal is another one of my favorite gifts for working moms, especially for moms working from home. The supply closet at home is well, your closet. That closet might be filled with old tax returns and kid’s drawings, not the best for jotting down notes on.
Whether it’s for meetings, project management, personal development, or goal setting, a cute notebook or journal is always a win. Add in a nice pen and your mom friend is going to be happy as a clam!
Plus I can’t write a gift guide without suggesting the One Line a Day Journal. Seriously, I’m going on eight years of one line a day journaling and I’m obsessed. For busy working moms who want to capture the memories but ditch the scrapbooking, this is perfection.
Planner
Or, maybe your working mom friend is totally into the pen and paper scene and a yearly planner would be right up her alley!
Help her map out her goals, meetings, soccer practices, meals, and all the things a working mom’s gotta do.
Check out more planner options (digital and paper) here.
Gifts for Her Office Space
Home Office Art
Your working mom friend is setting up shop at home and spending a lot of time there. Help her make her office/nook her own with some cute and inspiring decor.
There are a few ways to go with this one, check out some suggestions below:
Also, a special shoutout to my friend Yolanda over at Put the Kettle On because she has some seriously adorable printable wall art in her new shop. They are particularly perfect prints if your working mom friend loves a good mug of tea.
Succulents
Is your working mom friend right down the road? Head over to a local florist, gift shop, farm stand, or grocery store and pick her up a cute little plant. It will be the perfect little jar of happy sitting next to her laptop.
The other option? Fake succulents. Again, living and breathing things are awesome. But working moms are responsible for the care and feeding of many living breathing beings. And I’m willing to bet you are too. So since you’re both pretty busy, snag this set of fake succulents from Etsy and have them shipped.
Easy, peasy, lemon lovely!
Gifts to Hold Her Beverages
Water Bottle
You thought I was going to say coffee mug, right? And yes, of course, coffee mugs are great! Even though I’m not a coffee drinker I have a few favorites for tea that I love.
BUT, I’m going to suggest going with a water bottle instead because while coffee gets credit as the mom go-go juice, water is really where it’s at, whether we like it or not. A fun water bottle can make hydration more palatable, and with more hydration, your working mom friend is going to get more done and stay healthier. Gosh, you’re such a good friend!
Coffee Mug
Fine, I stand corrected. Coffee is the answer. And so is a cute coffee mug.
If your working mom friend is a lawyer mom setting up shop in her living room right now, you need to check out my friend The Mom at Law. Her online shop is full of killer mugs, t-shirts, and bags perfect for Mom, Esq.
And for the spreadsheet lovers, the writers, and the scientists here – you’re covered too!
Working Mom Gifts For “Office” Attire
Yoga Pants
Even if the kids aren’t home, work from home style often leans way into the casual look for work from home moms because we are trying to fit a lot into 24 hours. Getting kids ready for the day, squeezing in a workout, throwing in a load of laundry, dicing up vegetables on a conference call – that kind of go, go, go is made for athleisure wear!
Even if the working mom on your shopping list already has 10 pairs of yoga pants, I promise you she will welcome another. These yoga pants are rated 4.5 stars with over 10,000 reviews on Amazon. Also, in some colors they are priced as low as $24!
Cardigan
Nothing says work from home mom like business on the top, pajamas on the bottom!
But when that conference call turns into a video call, it’s time to step up the wardrobe. Especially if your mom friend is leading a presentation or meeting with clients.
For maximize effectiveness with this work-from-home style, find a cardigan that doesn’t have buttons so it is easy on, and one that doesn’t wrinkle easy so it can be a grab-and-go situation!
True life, there is a cardigan on the bed next to my desk right now, just in case.
Slippers
No one is looking at her feet during those video calls though! Gift that working mom some cozy slippers so she at least her feet can get their chill on while the rest of her bod is working overtime getting all the things done.
I’m also a fan of cozy socks as a great option. I submit you can never have enough pairs of cozy socks, particularly if your daughter likes to pilfer cozy socks from your drawer on the regular.
Working Mom Books
When Mommy Grows Up
When Mommy Grows Up is the perfect gift for the working mom looking for more joy and fulfillment in her work. This working mom book hits all the right notes – relatable, funny, and helpful. It’s career coaching to help you figure out your next steps and find your way back to yourself (in a fun way!)
Just Let Me Lie Down
Just Let Me Lie Down, by former Real Simple editor Kristin van Ogtrop won’t necessarily help your working mom friend get more work done, but it will make it feel a lot better about the chaos that is working mom life. Sure the commute is a little shorter now, but working mom life is still busy with a capital B.
This book is such a fun read and a great back to work after maternity leave gift, Mother’s Day gift, or gift to yourself!
I Know How She Does It
Books are ALWAYS a great gift I Know How She Does It is another perfect one for working moms. This book is all about that elusive work-life balance, and how it doesn’t have to be elusive! With author Laura Vanderkam’s help, you can figure out how to make the most of your time, one hour at a time.
Working Mom Gifts For Zoom Calls
Ring Light
“Becca, you look like you’re aging backwards somehow!” – A grad school classmate I hadn’t spoken with in a while during a Zoom call.
“Ah, yes. Lots of water. I make sure to get good sleep.” – Me
(And by water I mean the Zoom “touch up appearance” button under video settings and by sleep I mean a ring light.)
I picked up a ring light very soon after we all went into quarantine in March and I love it for many reasons. One is that I don’t have to worry that I’m all shadowy during Zoom calls and can instead focus on content of the meeting. But the other is the impending darkness of winter. A little extra bright light in the office is going to come in handy!
If your working mom friend is on a lot of calls, she may be super into a ring light too and they are much more reasonably priced than I had expected!
Airpods
For some of us, working from home with kids also means working from home with dogs. We got our dog, Diggie, in the middle of 2020 because chaos loves company and my family had been pushing HARD for 18 months. He’s adorable, but also very into chewing things.
Including my headphone cord…
But some kind of headphones are very necessary when working from home, especially if the kids are around or you have a spouse working close by. That’s why airpods can make an amazing gift!
Your working mom friend probably isn’t going to buy them for herself because she’s spending so much money on buying kids’ sneakers after they outgrow them in 30 seconds, so give her the gift that saves her from the noise of her house and the chewiness of her dog.
A Door Lock
I’m kidding. Sort of.
Kids barging in during Zoom calls is the reality for many moms working from home. We do our best to manage it, but sometimes a Kindle runs out of batteries, or a small child REALLY needs to tell you that she saw a brown cat one time.
For really important Zoom calls, you know the kind that you even put on real pants for in addition to the cardigan, a door lock might be the right call as one of the best gifts for working moms
But if you don’t want to get your mom friend a lock for her door, then send her some work from home with kids memes instead to give her a good laugh. This way she’ll know she’s not alone in the work from home craziness. Best part – the memes are yours free!
Did you find some great gifts for working moms here?
Pin this post for later and your shopping will be done and done before you can say “Who left the string cheese wrapper on the floor!!!??”
Thanks for stopping by!
Read More on Gift Ideas for Working Moms:
Best Gifts for Moms Returning to Work After Maternity Leave
Heartfelt and Inspiring Books by Moms for Moms
7 Powerful Professional Development Books to Get You Unstuck