How to maximise your free time in London

London is a hectic and busy city. The average commute into work (even from somewhere like zone 3 to zone 1) can be between 45 minutes to an hour. So many of us feel sometimes like we don’t have enough time to ourselves in the evenings and weekends. Luckily we’re here to provide you with a list of ways to maximise your free time in London, so you feel like you have time to breathe at the end of the day!
Not all of the ideas on this list are particularly affordable, but then not all of you who are moving to London will be on a tight budget, so you’ll have to tailor the list realistically to your own financial circumstances.

• Get your supermarket shopping delivered. Why waste an hour getting to the shops, ramming trolleys with other stressed out shoppers and then carting everything home again, when you could just sit in the comfort of your own home and wait for your shopping to be delivered to you? If you shop with Sainsburys, you can choose your delivery date up to 21 days in advance and amend it up until 11pm the night before your delivery. You can choose substitute preferences in the event that an item you’ve requested is not available. They deliver from 9am-10pm Monday to Friday, from 11am-8pm on Saturdays and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. The delivery charge is as little as £3.50, but you can qualify for free delivery if you spend over a certain amount. Once you’ve had your shopping delivered once, the Sainsburys system, will remember your ‘Usuals’ and you can quickly select them again, or add/remove things from your usual order. It’s a brilliant way to save yourself some time and we can’t believe that not all Londoners do this! Visit Sainsburys now for more information.
• Get a cleaner. Ok, this is quite indulgent, but there’s nothing worse than waking up on a Saturday morning, looking forward to relaxing for the weekend and realising that you need to hoover the house from top to bottom, dust the furniture and clean the bathroom. Instead, consider getting a cleaner to visit you once a week, once a fortnight or once a month for some extra help. Make sure you do your research before you commit to employing one. You’ll want to see references and recommendations from other people in your local area. An average cost for a cleaner in London would be GBP 10.00 per hour, usually for a minimum of 2 hours at a time.
• Is there time to watch TV if you’re a busy Londoner? Of course there is. But there are even ways to maximise your TV viewing time. Pick your favourite shows and record them. That way, you can then skip through the adverts (which often take up as much as 20 minutes of a 1 hour show!!!), giving you more time for other things… or more TV-viewing! If you get Sky Plus installed (currently the box and installation is free), then you’ll be able to quickly ‘series link’ your favourite shows and leave the box to work it’s magic.
• Ok, this is a boring one and is often unrealistic, but if you want to maximise your free time, then try not to drink too much the night before. Particularly on a Friday or Saturday night. You’ll spend the next day sobbing in bed and wishing that you had the energy to a)play football, b) take a walk in the park, c) go shopping….
• Time manage your London social life. If you have 3 friends who all know each other really well, then why are you seeing each of them separately, when you’d be just as happy killing 3 birds with one stone and going for one night out with everyone. Obviously, this is totally dependent on your social circumstances, but if you can merge a couple of evenings into one, then both your wallet, your liver and you will be happy about it.
• Do as much as you can online. Aside from ordering your food shopping, which we’ve already discussed, try and set up all your bills to be paid by direct debit, or at least be able to pay them quickly online. There’s just no need to go to the Post Office or be sat in a phone queue once a month, when there are other options available to assist with your admin.
• Use your travelling time wisely. If you take the tube every day, then try and find the time to read the paper or a book. If you take the bus or train (e.g if you’re above ground and have a phone signal) then use the time to call someone – your girlfriend, your best mate, your mum, whoever. If you just sit there waiting to arrive at your destination, then you’ve potentially wasted an average of 90-120 minutes of the day as a London commuter.
• If you’re single, then why not try speed-dating in London. This is the ultimate way to maximise your dating time. Sign up with Speed-dater who are the leaders in this particular type of dating.
• If you’re a gym-goer, then try and find time to go either before work (can be difficult) or at lunchtimes. You’ll find many branches of major gym chains in the West-End and City, so you should be able to squeeze in 30 minutes on the treadmill or a yoga class at lunch rather than having to wait until the evening, when you’re tired and just want to mong out in front of the telly with your dinner! The downside is that central London gyms can be much more pricey than suburbian gyms, so you’ll need to weigh up what works for you.
• Try and book for as many things as possible. If you’re going to a restaurant, then book in advance so that you don’t find yourself waiting at the bar for a table for half an hour. If you’re planning on a particular club or bar, then get yourself on the guest list in advance so that you’re not left queuing outside in the rain!

10 reasons to move to London

Almost everyone that writes about reasons to move to London, trots out Samuel Johnson’s famous utterings –  ’when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’ as if that’s enough of an explanation as to why you should move here. They normally forget to mention the second half of the quotation, which is ‘for there is in London, all that life can afford’. Now the reference to affordability may seem laughable in these economic times, but the gist of London having everything is something we support. Let us prove to those of you with doubts exactly why you should move to London. 

Here are 10 compelling reasons ….

1. Meet new people – there are roughly just shy of 8 million people living in London, not including all of those who commute into the capital for work, so think about all the extra people that you could meet. With Londoners from all walks of life and from many, many different nations, you’ll get to meet some real characters from fascinating backgrounds who can open your mind to the world. London is an extremely sociable city and it’s not difficult to make new friends and settle in, so long as you put in the effort.

2. Eat wonderful food – as mentioned above, London welcomes people from many different countries around the world and therefore, the choice of cuisine is immense. If you’re after a curry, head to Brick Lane; for Italian food, go to Little Venice; for something sweet and sour head to Chinatown; for authentic Persian cuisine, walk down the Edgware Road. This list could go on and on and on…. but you get the idea. We’d go so far as to say that you can find traditional food from any nation in London. If you want to test this theory, leave a comment and we’ll try and find something for you. In the meantime, read the Time Out Eating and Drinking guide for amazing eateries to tempt your tastebuds.

3. Culture – if you’re a culture junkie, then London is the place for you. If you want free museums, art galleries with the latest exhibitions, classical music concerts, theatre productions, poetry readings, then you’ll find it all in the capital. From the Tate to some random function room above a pub, there are a huge selection of art forms for those who enjoy the finer things.

4. Entertainment – whilst there are some excellent venue facilities in other parts of the country, such as the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, or the MEN arena in Manchester, you can’t deny that London attracts the biggest and best names, productions, concerts and sporting fixtures. Tickets may be expensive, but there’s always something going on at the O2 or Wembley to entice you! Visit Viagogo for details of current events.

5. Celebrations - London is always up for a party and enjoys to celebrate the traditions of other countries. We celebrate St Patrick’s Day on March 17th, Australia Day on January 26th, the Chinese New Year, Diwali (often in October or November), Notting Hill Carnival on August bank holiday, as well as our own national days such as St George’s Day on the 23rd April, Christmas and an amazing New Year fireworks display overlooking the Thames. Few places in the rest of the UK could boast that they honour all of these dates in the same way that London does, often with parties in Trafalgar Square.

6. Shopping – Again, there are some wonderful shopping centres and locations in the UK in places such as Leeds and Manchester, but every woman dreams of shopping with a limitless credit card in the boutiques and departments stores of London town. Whether you want to head to an area such as Knightsbridge, Oxford Street, Bond Street, Regent Street or Kensington, a department store such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Harrods or a shopping centre such as Westfield, then you’ll love living in London (although your wallet might not!)  

7. Lack of boredom – you can’t be bored in London,  you just can’t be. If you are, then you suffer from a lack of imagination, because you can do anything here. If you wake up on a Saturday morning with no plans for the weekend and think to yourself, ‘I really fancy… going bowling, ice-skating, singing karaoke, going for a riverside walk, taking a boat down the Thames, going paintballing, taking  a trip on the London Eye, watching some comedy, listening to some jazz….’ you get the picture, you can do all these things at the drop of a hat in London. For great ideas of things to do in London, read TimeOut’s 1000 Things to do in London.  

8. Public Transport – ok this may seem laughable, because as with all public transport systems, London’s goes wrong. A lot. However, if you don’t drive and can’t afford to take lessons, have failed your 5th driving test, feel that driving is bad for the environment, or just don’t have any desire to hold a driving licence, then the beauty of living in London, is that there is absolutely no need to have a car. Would it be nice to drive to the supermarket? Yes of course. But is it necessary. Definitely not. The majority of Londoners, even those who drive, use public transport to get to and from work.

9. Move to London for work – thousands of you move to London every year, with work cited as the main reason for the relocation. As with all capital cities, there is an extremely broad selection of industries to choose to work for in London. Many (but not all) will choose to have at least a branch office, but more likely, their company HQ in London. Admittedly if you’re looking for a job in agriculture, then this won’t be the place for you, but industries such as journalism, television, investment banking and global relocation (to name a few) have the majority of job opportunities in London. Read our Working in London page for further details.

10. Love – finally, if you’re looking for love, then why not try finding it in London? There are many, many more single people than in your home towns and a whole host of opportunities to meet a potential love interest. You could try online dating with sites such as Lovestruck London or Single Solution, meet people through friends-of-friends or at work, go speed-dating , or try meeting likeminded people at an event that you’ll be interested in, such as a wine-tasting evening. Read our Dating in London article for tips on meeting someone in the capital.