Life moves pretty fast, especially in London. With an abundance of culture and excitement to discover (plus a job to hold down) there's no time to waste on admin and errands. Free up your evenings and weekends with our favourite hacks, sites and services that streamline everything from groceries to grooming.
Urban Massage is a knead-to-know service for anyone who hunches over a screen all day. The simple site allows you to summon a masseuse anywhere, anytime, in just a few clicks. They bring all the kit, so you just need towels and maybe a scented candle for real spa vibes. We particularly like how you can choose your therapist based on ratings and expertise. Deep tissue? De-stress? Post-natal? There's a masseuse who specialises in just that. You're encouraged to tailor the treatment (firm with extra pressure on shoulders, please). The result exceeds many of the spas we've tried, with the added benefit of being able to roll right on to the sofa when it's over.
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If you resent sacrificing precious free time to ensuring clothes are fragrant and crease-free, it’s time to outsource. In a more convenient evolution of traditional dry cleaning services, Laundrapp collects your dirties and brings them back freshly laundered and ironed. It’s especially handy for shirts, though anything from delicates to duvets can be cleaned, with prices starting at £2 per item. The app means it’s easy to book on the go and the devoted Laundrapp customers here at Culture Whisper have been especially impressed with the quality and communication (and the patient delivery drivers who’ve waited when we’ve been a little late getting home).
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Bring the bounty of rural living into the city with Farmdrop. Like a cross between Ocado and a traditional farmers market, the website goes beyond big brands and mass retail to connect you to the freshest produce. From pasture-fed dry aged beef burgers to foraged rock samphire and raw butter, you can be assured that everything is ethically farmed, responsibly sourced and delivered to your door with minimal carbon footprint and packaging. There’s no need to commit to a regular subscription; just browse the seasonal goods on offer and arrange a next-day delivery in your chosen time slot.
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We’ve tested a fair few London cleaning services and Handy has consistently proved the most reliable and efficient, whether you need a last-minute blitz or a regular weekly clean. It’s a user-friendly site with slots from 7am-11pm and online payments negating the need to faff around with cash. Handy is particularly, um, handy for when you need a seasonal deep clean, as you can add on extras such as oven cleaning (along with handymen and house-moving services). It's on the pricier side, but all staff are vetted and well-trained. And we found that halving the recommended cleaning session time still leaves sparkling results.
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Beloved handbag looking a bit battered? Restoring and repairing shoes and bags is one of those things we always intend to do, but never quite get around to. Now thanks to Restory you can spruce your wardrobe without even leaving the house. It’s a fashion-lover’s secret, which comes to collect your tired shoes or bags and then delivers them back to you looking and good as new. With prices starting at £65, it’s not cheap. This is a service designed with top quality vintage and designer labels in mind - so you can at least be sure they will know how to revive investment handbags or special occasion stilettos.
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Manicured nails, eyelash extensions and waxes are ideal for busy people, helping us look groomed and glam at a moment’s notice. But finding time to sit in salons is less than ideal. So why not bring the salon to you? Of the many mobile beauty services available, Le Salon deliver a particularly professional service. They make your home feel like a spa and they even transformed the Culture Whisper office into a nail bar. Best of all, the speedy service means you can fit in treatments in lunch hours or pre-work, without wasting a moment of the weekend.
Gold Whisper members can enjoy 20% off any LeSalon treatment booked via the website or in-app.
Click here to redeem the offer
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Childcare is not something you can take a chance on. Whether you’re planning a well-deserved party night or seeking daily care for your darlings, it’s imperative that you have someone reliable and experienced in charge. Nanny agency and babysitting service Snuggles conducts a rigorous six-step vetting process to ensure they have only the very best nannies on the books. Covering all conceivable childcare needs – from maternity nurses and full time nannies, to hotel babysitters and last-minute cover – it gives parents peace of mind and ensures that kids are calm and happy.
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We love how personal the service is at Breathe Yoga. Instead of automated online forms, you actually speak to an adviser. This ensures they can match you with the perfect instructor – whether you want to master the basics or challenge yourself with advanced moves. It's easy to book private sessions for people of all ages and abilities, at home, in the office, in the garden... anywhere you like. There's no need to worry about equipment – Breathe will help you organise. We particularly like how the hourly rate stays the same whatever the class size. Why not kickstart your next brunch party with some inversions and downward dogs?
Gold Whisper members can enjoy 20% off their first four sessions booked with Breathe Yoga.
Click here to redeem the offer
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Thanks to the NHS most of us have little reason to fork out for private health care. But then, once in a blue moon, you may find yourself in need of a GP appointment without waiting for weeks or eating into office hours. Doctorcall caters to the time-poor with same-day appointments. The 24-hour service is ultra-convenient, with a Harley Street GP coming to you within 90 minutes. Though it’s not necessary normally, we found it to be a total godsend for those non-medical emergency issues that need nipping in the bud – like an ear infection the day before a holiday.
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Time spent taking detours to petrol stations and standing at the pump isn’t something we’d really thought about – that is until Zebra Fuel offered an ultra convenient alternative. The ultimate hack for lazy drivers, it’s a re-fueling service that delivers direct to wherever you’re parked. Just book in on the app, select a time slot and you're good to go. We find it helpful with family cars, when one of you has a habit of draining the tank on a drive home and the other has to get up and set off somewhere without the added faff of going out of their way to find fuel.
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Add a little smugness to the daily tube scrum by knowing exactly where to get on and off the train for the swiftest changes and exits. Tube Exits is a simple app that helps you hack any journey on the underground. For just 99p you can possess expert knowledge on the smartest places to position yourself for every possible journey and combination of lines. Knowing the right exit might not seem revolutionary, but anyone who’s battled from one end of a packed platform to the other will know that elbowing tourists out the way is surprisingly slow and stressful.
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London’s appetite for meal prep delivery services shows no sign of abating: we all want to cut out supermarket trips and whip up freshly cooked meals with no fuss, pre-planning, food waste or excess plastic packaging. Of the many delivery services out there, Mindful Chef gets our vote for both practicality and the enticing variety of recipes. Health conscious without being abstemious or dull, the nutritionist-approved recipes are inspiring, easy to follow in 30 minutes and adapted for one, two or four people, as well as various dietary requirements. As committed carb-ivores we were worried the virtuous emphasis on protein, veg and and complex carbs might leave us dissatisfied. But it turns out that dishes such as Spanish cod, chickpeas and roasted peppers, and honey and mustard pork with butter bean mash are every bit as delicious as they sound.
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