10 Last Minute Gift Ideas For Dad’s Office

Moms are lot easier to shop for than dads. At least that’s true for me. My dad was a career civil servant but he did try to start his own business once. It was always difficult to shop for him because he’s a simple guy and never wanted much. If your dad or better half is an entrepreneur, you’ve got one more avenue to explore – gifts that help him be more productive or simply make his office a better place. Well, times are tough so here are some relatively affordable ideas – you won’t find super high tech gadgets like Kindle in this list but they are all practical ideas nonetheless.

A Good Office Chair – he spends a lot of time over that desk / computer so might as well be comfortable.

Stock up his office supplies – men hate shopping even for business. Come to think of it, so do I. It would be a great gesture to surprise him with a cabinet full or paper, pens, ink, toner and while you’re at it maybe tidy up that table of his

Laptop bags – depending on how much he carries his laptop around. I bet those who carry their laptops regularly, the bag could be in need of replacement.

A cordless presenter/laser pointer – if Dad does a lot of presentations, this is a must have to help him stay within the time limit, advance slides in a presentation and highlight key notes. This Logitech one looks interesting.

The Livescribe Smartpen – you read my post last week about this pen. It’s great. The 1GB version starts at $149.99 and is plenty to begin with.

NeatDesk Desktop Scanner – no more pack rat Dad!

Software or Online Services – Evernote makes a great gift too to give Dad a virtual space to save all those tidbits of information he finds. You also almost always won’t go wrong with software that he’s been wanting to have. They can get expensive though. One software I highly recommend for any desktop is DirectAccess to help Dad type less, easily launch software and automate a ton of small tasks he might do every day.

Business learning courses or training programs – this too can get expensive but at the same time, there are many affordable learning products out there too. For example, if he’s been wanting to learn how to setup his own blog, give him the Blogging Starter Pack.

Tablet or fancy schmancy mouse – the Bamboo tablet starts at $99 or go for a fancy, comfortable top of the line mouse for his computer.

Help – Purchase a few hours from a Virtual Assistant as a gift.

Bonus idea, computer wallpaper or screen saver – Well this you can do in addition to what you’re already giving him. Make a collage with your family photos with some handwritten notes specifically for dad then secretly change out his computer wall paper. $0 makes it a fabulous idea.