Let’s face it. We all use our friends sometimes: their experience, their labour, their resources… and they tend to do the same with us.
This is okay though; as a matter of fact, this is what makes us friends. Now, one might think that we are taking advantage of their goodwill, but the truth is the helper often feel as good as the helped… if not better! Think about it: if you help a friend out – say, find them a job – you feel great about it. You also feel more comfortable asking for his/her help when you need it, thus starting the magical cycle of mutual support… this is the ultimate win-win situation, right? So here is a list of 5 ways to properly use your friends:
1. Designated Driver
2. Personal Assistant
3. Recycling Pal
4. Banking Buddy
5. Bed-surfing Mate
- Designated Driver
Synonyms: Personal Chauffeur, Driving Escort, Friend with a car, Friend who can drive. Reasons why you need a friend to be your Designated Driver these days: you don´t have a driving licence, you can´t drive, you don´t have a car, you are drunk, you plan to be drunk, you lost your glasses, you are lazy, noone wants to get in your car anyways. Tips: if you are temporarily out of friends, you can share a ride thanks to some great apps and websites like blablacar, lyft, carpooling, sidecar… oryoyola (if you´re in Turkey).
- Personal Assistant
Synonyms: Baby-sitter, Cleaner, Mover, Cook, Bodyguard, Buyer, Teacher, Confidant. Reasons you need a friend: all of the above and much, much more… Tips: if you mistakenly used the same friends for these various tasks, it is probable that they will find a good excuse not to cooperate this time around. Luckily for you, we have some back-up plans: airtasker and taskrabbit (for all kinds of tasks), homejoy and proprly (for cleaning), chegg, codeacademy, creativemornings, skillshare andzookal (for classes), beyondcroissant, cookening, cookisto, eatfeastly, eatwith, socialeaters,mealmeets and meetmeals (if you feel like cooking for/eating with future friends).
- Recycling Pal
Synonyms: Re-using, Regifting, Dumping, Borrowing, Lending. Reasons: you want to save the planet… or you want to save some money. Tips: Friends are usually great for recycling both goods and services. However, if your famous “work for pizza and beer” mojo is not as successful as it used to be, we came up with some pretty good online platforms to help you out. If you want to exchange your specialist skills for others, you can visit diy, kollabora, swapsee or timerepublik. If you simply need a tool, try 1000tools, brightneighbor, locloc (if you´re in Italy), neighborgoods,openshed (if you´re in Australia), snapgoods or yerdle.
- Banking Buddy
Synonyms: Financial Advisor, Personal Loaner, Private Banker, Wealthy Friend. Reasons you need one: gifts are expensive, so are your tastes… whether you need some financial advice or a few extra bucks to make ends meet, friends are usually a good source of available resources. After all, friends and family are the first ones entrepreneurs turn to. Tips: use the current crowdfunding mania to your best advantage, from the wellknown kickstarter (US only), Indiegogo (US mostly) and FundedByMe (Nordic countries) to the outsiders crowdtilt, pozible or the innovative upstart (investing in a person, not a project).
- Bed-surfing Mate
Synonyms: Accomodation Facilitator, Temporary Landlord, Place To Crash. Reasons: hotels are expensive, check-outs are early Tips: Now is the time you will use this resource most, especially if you plan on getting really tired or drunk (or both) during the Holidays. If you couldn´t get a ride home (#1), someone to carry you there (#2), a tricycle to borrow (#3) or some change for a taxi (#4)… fear not: you still have #5: find a place to crash! If this doesn´t work either, you should consider these options (and find new friends): AirBnB, Knok, lovehomeswap, homeexchange or vayable(local tours). I hope this list will prove as helpful to you as it was fun to redact for me. Oh!… and if you feel lost with all these proposals and just want one tool to ask your friends for help, I would definitely recommend Fajoya! Happy new year! Guest post written by David Cardon.
Sharing enthusiast, Co-founder and CMO @ Fajoya, Friends Help network.