Have you noticed a change in your behaviour recently? Have you stopped making a beeline for the sofa on weeknights? Did you get up yesterday without having to hit the snooze button?
Maybe that's because it’s spring. Finally! All that extra vitamin D is making us energised. It’s bloody brilliant. But where can we channel our newfound sprightliness? After months spent plotting an expat future someplace hot, we’ve all got really good at fobbing off invitations to fun stuff in favour of staying at home. It’s time to break the chain.
Don’t waste that spring in your step on Netflix. Here’s all the brilliant things you can do, make and learn now that you’re feeling up for it.
For culture vultures
Lunch breaks are no longer about dashing into the cold and grabbing something quick to eat at your desk. Drop in to Camden Arts Centre at 12pm and they’ll take you on a free tour – students, freelancers and anyone else who can get away can go at 4pm, too.
The National Portrait Gallery hosts lunchtime lectures for £3 and future subjects include Byron, Tudor Women and Angela Carter.
At Tate Britain, entry is free and the doors are open until 6pm every day – perfect for a quick lunchtime stroll to take in the best of British art.
More of a literary type? Head to Rich Mix, east London's key cultural space, for Jawdance, a completely free poetry and spoken word reading every Wednesday.
Also free is The Gallery Café's book club, which meets every month in Bethnal Green. Check their Twitter to see which literary masterpiece they'll be discussing next and come ready to share your ideas.
If you prefer to get your culture over the weekend, head to Sunday Papers Live which hold events packed with everything you need to know about news and culture from the very best speakers, along with guided walks, gourmet roasts, great live music and comfy sofas.
Camden Arts Centre tours, free
National Portrait Gallery lunchtime lectures, £3
For foodies
Even our tastebuds are feeling more vibrant.
Critically acclaimed restaurant The Quality Chop House has its own in-house butcher, who will happily show any self-respecting carnivore how to dress a chicken or carve a steak. Each class includes a three-course meal, so be sure to work up an appetite.
Master baker PAUL's classes promise to unlock the secrets of French bread, and bring the smell of freshly made baguettes to your kitchen. You'll leave the class with recipes, your own dough and a luxury baker's kit – there'll be no need to resort to Hovis ever again.
Leith’s has an open day coming up this summer. There’ll be mini-workshops and the chance to speak to existing students and experts, a great opportunity for anyone seriously considering a change of career.
Have a lollipop party at Spun Candy’s sweet workshops or, if you want to cut out your shop-bought coffee habit for good, take a class at the Department of Coffee.
Bread-making masterclasses at PAUL, £75
Butchery classes at The Quality Chop House, from £165
Department of Coffee workshops, from £40
Courtesy of SpunFor cocktail shakers
The nights may be getting shorter but that's no reason not to liven them up by learning how to make your preferred tipple.
Subterranean speakeasy Reverend JW Simpson's Spirited Sermons offer an evening of diving into different liquors, with guest speakers, tastings and cocktails.
If you'd prefer to learn to shake your own cocktail, legendary mixologist Tony Conigliaro holds masterclasses at 69 Colebrooke Row. Each class focuses on a different drink, so you can learn to create everything from champagne cocktails to aperitifs.
Prefer to to drink with friends? Get a group together for a trip to east London's TT Liquor and learn to mix your own bespoke cocktails together around one of their custom bars. You can even take over the whole place, if you have something to celebrate.
Take a sip of the illicit at The Sun Tavern with a personally tailored tasting of poitín, traditional Irish moonshine. Each tasting includes two poitín-based cocktails and four varieties of this (now legal) Gaelic moonshine.
Can't tell your Jacob's Creek from your Oyster Bay? High-end wine shop Hedonism Wines offers completely free drop-in classes, where anyone can sample the produce of the very best vineyards and hear talks from wine industry insiders.
Spend a Sunday seeing how your T gets its G at London's Jensen's Gin Distillery. Conveniently located right next to Maltby Street Market, every Sunday you can walk through the distillery and try their gins absolutely free.
69 Colebrooke Row masterclasses £50
Reverend JW Simpson Spirited Sermons £30
Poitin tasting at The Sun Tavern, from £25
Wine tastings at Hedonism Wine, free
For your home
Has the sunshine made you see your home in a whole new light?
If your walls are looking a little bare, Libreria's risograph workshops let you create your very own wall art, even if you've never held a brush before. All materials are provided, as well as a cheeky beer, and you'll leave with 15 totally unique A3 prints.
No garden to enjoy spring? Create your own tiny ecosystem with London Terrariums workshops and bring the greenery inside.
Want to bring the ceramics trend into your home? Sign up for a 12-week course at Turning Earth and learn how to master all things clay.
If your kitchen needs a little love, you can seriously impress your housemates and learn how to carve your own cutlery with Grain and Knot. Or if you're looking for something a little less off-the-grid, Drink, Shop & Do's Muggy Mondays allow you to turn your next cup of tea into a work of art.
London Terrariums workshops, from £40
Muggy Mondays at Drink, Shop & Do, £5
Risograph printing workshop, £47.50
For creatives
Londoners are spoilt for choice when it comes to creative workshops in the city. Want to learn how to print? Print Club London will show you how to personalise everything from a T-shirt to a tote.
If drawing’s more your thing, pop along to Adrian Dutton’s life-drawing classes in locations all over east London.
The Funny Women Time of the Month comedy show is better than that thing on your Netflix list. For an extra £10, budding comedians can swap scripts and get writing advice before the show.
Learn how to make do and mend with sewing classes at Sew Over It. Once you've learnt to thread your needle, you can use the cafe there to get your new project going for £6 an hour (there’s unlimited tea, too).
Beginner workshops at Print Club London, £55
Sewing taster session at Sew Over It, £50
For your wellbeing
Let’s talk wellbeing. Inner Space in Covent Garden is dedicated to it, with totally free guided meditation sessions in the evenings, and Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday talks on subjects such as habits of happiness, how to focus better and combating tiredness.
Bit serious for you? Go climb some trees in the park at Alexandra Palace. For £20 a session, the people at Big Tree Climbing will guide you up a giant one, so you can feel like a kid again (minus the grazed knees).
Did you know Neal’s Yard host workshops, too? Book a spot on the juicing or superfood course at the Covent Garden store for £40 and get 20% off products while you’re there.
Inner Space, Covent Garden, free
Neal’s Yard workshops, from £40
Courtesy of Neal's Yard
For wedding planners
Planning on being a spring bride?
Paperchase offers low-cost craft classes at Tottenham Court Road where you can learn to make everything from paper flowers to wedding scrapbooks.
If you fancy making a DIY wedding band, The Workbench will show you how to carve your very own ring, then cast and polish it in sterling silver, with their ring-making workshops.
Master calligrapher Alice Gabb hosts intimate classes so you'll be able to create place cards, invitations or even just sign your wedding register with an extra flourish.
Prefer something a little more graphic? Tea and Crafting's lino printmaking workshops are a great way to make bespoke stationery, so you can finally get those invites posted.
Broadway Market florists Rebel Rebel are teaching classes on everything from DIY flower crowns to hand-tied bouquets (you can totally make your own on the big day), plus the coolest duo on London’s food scene – Meringue Girls – have teamed up with Hackney wedding cake experts Fondant Fox to give baking masterclasses. Add glitter-dipped cherries to your list, stat.
Calligraphy with Alice Gabb, from £50
Lino printing at Tea & Crafting, £29.99
Make your own ring at The Workbench, £69
Craft classes at Paperchase, from £15
Rebel Rebel flower workshops, from £75
Meringue Girls and Fondant Fox cake masterclasses, £75
Courtesy of Fondant Fox
For when you’re really feeling energised
Anyone seriously riding the spring wave will need something hardcore to burn the energy. Antigravity yoga takes amazing skill and you’ll laugh your way through the class at London Dance Academy.
The music video classes at Drink, Shop & Do are so fun they'll sell out fast, so book ASAP.
Now’s the time to start running outdoors again, and we've teamed up with adidas to create London's very best run club. Completely free, it's the most fun you’ll have in lycra in east London.
Did you know Lulu Lemon and Sweaty Betty have free classes in selected stores, too? Nip in straight after work for some downward dog action.
Drink, Shop & Do music video classes, £15
Lulu Lemon and Sweaty Betty in-store yoga classes, free
Courtesy of Sweaty Betty
For when you want to think work
Let’s talk career productivity.
If you’re thinking of making a big job change this year, the British Library has teamed up with Startup Direct to offer loads of workshops for beginners in business – covering subjects like funding, inventions and protecting intellectual property.
If you're not sure which career path you want to take, The School Of Life offers an in-depth evening class which tackles the real career questions, like is it better to be a generalist or a specialist?
If your dream is to be the next Hilary Mantel, this April Cityread is working with local libraries to offer free historical fiction writing classes.
The Mayfair Collective has launched a year-long programme of free talks and workshops led by those dominating fashion, culture, business and the arts. With past speakers including Leomie Anderson and workshops on women in business, whatever move you want to make, these events will have the advice you need.
British Library x Startup Direct workshops for beginners in business, from £10
How To Find A Job You Love at The School Of Life, £55
Historical fiction writing classes with Cityread, free
Talks and workshops at The Mayfair Collective, free
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