I charge my friends for computer repairs

I guess the title says it all. I charge my friends for my professional services. These services include computer repair, appliance repair, and writing/editing services. If we're friends and I'm doing something for you that I would ordinarily do in the course of my professional life, you're going to pay for it. I can hear the objections now, but I'll explain why I charge my friends and why you should charge your friends as well.

Your time is worth money. On your personal time, you would like to do personal things, yes? There's a phrase I use often, "busman's holiday." A "busman's holiday" is doing something during your recreational time that you would ordinarily do in the course of your job. If you normally drive people around as your job but you find yourself driving people around on your day off, you're having a busman's holiday. If you spend your day troubleshooting computers, the last thing you want to do away from work is to spend time troubleshooting a computer. If a friend is asking you to troubleshoot their computer, you should be paid for it.

Paying for your services sets them apart as a business. If you're giving your friend the benefit of your professional services for free, they're not going to value your services or your time. They will not believe the product of your work is valuable. They will have no qualms about requesting your services in the middle of the night or at the last minute. They will have no qualms about linking unrelated problems to the problem you helped them resolve. They will ask for your professional services in awkwardly personal moments when you would not want to talk business. By charging for your services, you will set them apart as being your business relationship with your friend. They will know you're not free and they should treat their request for help as they would any other request for professional services for anyone else in your line of business. You're doing them a favor because you are their friend, but they are getting the benefit of being friends with a professional.

You don't have to charge your full rate. This is the "favor" part of the friendship. It's perfectly fine to offer a deep discount to a friend. If you want to give them a 50% discount, or even a 90% discount, you should, as a friend. It's fine to charge them for the cost of materials plus a few dollars for your labor. It's fine to barter your professional services for an equivalent of their professional services. You should let them know you're giving them a substantial discount as a courtesy of your friendship and you will give them the same service you would give to anyone else who pays for your services. Don't feel guilty about the terms of the transaction. Do let them know the value of your work. You are their friend, but you are giving them professional services. Your professional services are not free.

I don't marathon shows anymore...

At some point I decided I don't marathon shows anymore. It was fun, for a while, but it largely left me feeling empty. Watching an entire series in a day or across the span of a weekend just isn't satisfying. Even if I have that much free time, I just can't justify doing nothing but watching a show. Maybe it's because my style of watching a show means that I'm WATCHING a show. I'm not washing dishes while the show plays in the background. I'm not filling out paperwork and glancing at the screen from time to time. I'm not playing a game on my phone and catching the show in the corner of my eye. When I'm watching a show, I'm exclusively watching a show. This means marathoning a show left absolutely nothing else done. I also find that I prefer to talk about individual episodes of a show after watching them. When you're chugging down the whole gallon of milk at one time you can't have a meaningful discussion of the third sip. I like having something to look forward to. If I'm watching an episode per night of the hot new show on Netflix, I have something to look forward to each night, getting through the day becomes its own little reward. When you marathon the entire series the only thing you can look forward to is the next season, which won't be out until probably next year around this time. Slow down. Are you racing against someone or are you only cheating yourself out of truly enjoying a show?