Life

20 Gift Ideas For Your Friend Who Does The Most

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There are people in your life who are busy — and then there's that person who is the busiest. Maybe they travel the world for work, or have three jobs, or have babies and volunteer, or are in the middle of writing a symphony. Or maybe all of the above. Finding the right gifts for your busiest friend is a delicate balance of respecting their slammed schedule and commitments, while encouraging some space to just do them. Because holidays are the time to give something to someone that they wouldn't give to themselves, you know?

It's true that being super busy can actually take a bit of toll on the health of your loved one. Not so much because of doing too much, per se, but because of the stressful impacts of feeling constantly pressed for time can have on the mind, body, and spirit. So keeping this in mind while you shop for the holidays is truly in the name of giving.

Take a look below at gifts that help save time, make life easier, or, gasp, promote a life that might be just a tad less busy. No matter what, your dearest and most active friend will be forever grateful for what you get them.

1

A Cleaning Or Organizational Service

Yes, simply booking an hour or two of cleaning for your loved one's apartment can be a total God-send. Send them a gift certificate for a day of housecleaning, or perhaps a freelance professional organizer who can finally get them through that closet still filled with trophies from middle school and empty shoe boxes. The gift of a clean, organized house is one not soon to be forgotten, and will forever be appreciated.

2

Chic File Organizers

File cabinets and file folders, are, generally, some of the ugliest items out there. Help your loved one hide the fact that they have ninety-gazillon documents despite it being the digital age. Instead of the regular beige office dividers, their files can instead be kept in cost-friendly organizers that look like chic hand bags. It just makes sense to have everything be beautiful, no?

3

Some Grocery Delivery

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Can you imagine waking up on grocery day, the need to shop just lingering over your head, and then, all of a sudden, it's taken care of? Know the staples of their kitchen, and have them sent to the house! Sounds pretty amazing to me, and you can do that for your friend.

Whether it's on FreshDirect or InstaCart, one week, one month, or one meal's worth of groceries can be sent in the form of a gift certificate, or by simply being the type of person who knows everything in your best pal's cabinets ordering it yourself.

4

A Meditation Class

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Om, how did your friend or family member get so busy in the first place? Well, it's possible they live a life of Zen and time expands before them like a clear lake, but it's also possible that they just go-go-go-go-go. Give them the gift of learning how to clear their mind, because chances are, they have a lot of chatter going on up there, and they deserve to take a break to have someone guide them towards a little peace.

You can get an online course, but it might be even better to gift them a class or classes IRL!

5

A Hair Dryer That Works

It sounds...simple. Maybe. But if you have a lot of hair, you know the time it takes to dry in the morning when you need to get the freak out of the house. A mediocre hairdryer just ain't gonna cut it! If your friend has ever complained about this step in their morning routine, a nice hairdryer that will get the job done quick will be dearly loved.

And hey, you could also just splurge and get them a morning blow out as a treat, too...but who has the time for that?

6

Be (Or Pay For) An Assistant For The Day

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Unless you're someone like the Danny from Full House who derives pleasure from mundane chores, they are generally the worst. Just getting stamps and bringing boxes of old gloves to the Good Will takes up so much freakin' time.

So, as a gift that depends on your time and budget, give your friend the gift of help for the little stuff. Have them write a to-do list of things anyone can do (i.e. groceries, laundry, sending mail) and either give a few hours of your time, or hire someone else to do it for them!

7

A Tile Pro

Novels could be written in the time a person spends looking for their keys in this life. Not anymore! Get your friend a Tile Pro. It's a stuff tracker, basically, and you can just clip it onto or into the items you need to keep track of (like keys, or a computer case, you name it.)

Then you simply use the Tile app to find the items, and if they are within 200 feet, the Tile will make a sound and guide you in the right direction. The amount of time your friend will save can be spent hanging out with you.

8

NutriBullet

Never underestimate the power of a blender when you're on the go, so if your friend is not the owner of a NutriBullet or likeminded blender, I would recommend changing that!

Being busy all the darn time can sometimes mean foregoing a good meal or just eating whatever you can get your hands on. That's why you just stick a bunch of fruits and veggies into one of these puppies and voila! A lifetime of delicious healthy food you can eat with a (reusable) straw awaits.

9

An Everywhere Travel Bag

Luggage is an issue. The size, the weight, and finding one that actually has space for all the items you need to bring with you on the plane is basically impossible. And then to make it even slightly attractive? Fahgeddaboudit.

Do the hard work of finding your pal a carry-on piece of luggage that does it all while keeping up the aesthetics. Especially if they travel a lot, this will be something they keep near and dear.

10

Wireless Headphones

When you have a jam-packed schedule, sometimes you can only get through it by drowning out all the noise. Get your pal a cute, colorful pair of wireless headphones so they can listen to music or stories at the same time that they are conquering the world. The beauty of these is how they really, truly, allow you to be alone in a crowd. And while sometimes that's not a good thing, other times it's ideal, if not necessary.

11

Cute Organizational Pouches

The thing about being busy is that it often comes along with having to organize a bunch of, well, stuff. Items. Things. Papers. Tidbits. So your friend undoubtedly needs a way to keep all of these things separated in such a way that makes stuff easy to find and easy to grab. Make them cute, make them reusable, make them plaid, and make your friend happy.

12

A Stylish Robe

If your busy friend works at home, this is a particularly useful gift. It makes lounging around and working in soft clothes seem a little more elevated. But again, this is one of those items that speaks a little less towards their busy schedule, and a little more towards letting all that go for a minute to put the ole' feet up with a cup of coffee and a good book — one made out of real paper and everything.

This is a particularly good one by Bathen, a company that supports fair trade and focuses on employing women artisans.

13

A Pair Of Super Comfortable Sneakers

Your loved one, as busy as they are, probably does a lot of running around town. Thusly, they need a pair of zero nonsense, beyond comfortable sneakers that are still, IMO, super stylish, to do it all. The Reebok Classics have never let anyone down, so find out your loved one's shoe size and order them a cloud-soft pair. They are sure to become part of the daily uniform.

14

Fancy Hand Sanitizer

Right, I know. It sounds like a lame gift, but it's not. Perhaps pair it with some vitamins, tea, and a sleeping mask to present it as a whole "you will not be taken down by the flu or any other winter ailment so help me, Jao" kind of gift. Your busiest dear one cannot, I repeat, cannot, afford to be sick! They need to spend their extra time, what little of it there is, relaxing and learning to meditate.

15

A Travel Vibrator

Because a wildly busy person needs that hit of dopamine and relaxation hormones from an orgasm even more than the next person. Get them a tried and true vibrator they can slip into one of their organizational pouches to use when they are feeling much too overwhelmed. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

And hey, if you don't want to assume what they like, a handy gift certificate to an online sex shop is always a pleasure.

16

A Robotic Vacuum

Help your loved one keep their floors clean while doing literally anything else. You just push a button and these little fellas float around on their own, sucking up all the dirt and dust in their way. They can even give the robot vacuum a name, like Pickles or Tim, and consider it a low maintenance pet. Either way, it means less time spent cleaning house, and more time doing whatever it is that makes them so darn busy.

17

A Rockin' Color Palette

A great, extremely colorful eye shadow palette makes it super easy to add excitement to a makeup routine in a very, very fun way. Like, in a way that makes things look great with basically no effort whatsoever.

If your friend is into cosmetics and style but doesn't have the time to perfect a cat eye each morning, give them a wild and lovely pack of eye shadow. A simple swipe of red, neon green, or gold will be an empowering addition to their power suit.

18

A Smart Home Device

Yes, you or your friend might be the type who don't want to talk to a speaker and potentially, ahem, have it listening to you all the time. However, these little smart devices are awful handy when you are doing things and need any kind of information, want to play music, or want to plan the best route considering weather and traffic. Meaning, it's good for someone who has a lot to do and is usually thinking about one hundred things at once. A smaller one is quite pocket-friendly, to boot.

19

Gifts That Give Back

Your friend might be doing so many things that it's hard for them to squeeze a little extra time out to, say, go to the blood drive or remember to update their credit card for a monthly donation to Planned Parenthood. So why not give them a gift that does that kind of giving for them? There are a lot of these types of items out there that, like the sweatshirt above, featuring artwork by Kurt Cobain. A portion of anything purchased at the Kurt Cobain shop is donated to the Jed Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on suicide prevention and emotional health in young people.

20

An Infrared Heating Pad

So, maybe they don't have time to go to a spa. Maybe you can work on helping them change that next year. For now, get them something rejuvenating and relaxing they can use in the comfort of their own home or office. This heating pad uses "Far Infrared Ray (FIR) heat" which, according to Sharper Image, "penetrates up to 3 of bone and muscle tissues to melt away stress." They'll scoot under one of these, and they won't want to get back out!

Any of these suggestions are sure to fill your busy friend's life with ease and happiness. Now, if you haven't already, get shopping!

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