Early for pickup? Friend running late? Let Barclays know how you make the most of an unexpected 5 minutes downtime out of the house, for your chance to win a £200 John Lewis voucher - NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Barclays say "It's happened to all of us - you're out and about and you find yourself with some unexpected free time on your hands - you're a few minutes early for pickup, or one of the kids is bravely allowing a hairdresser to trim their locks."

"We're putting together the ultimate list of tips to maximise lost moments throughout the day, to celebrate two ingenious apps from Barclays: the Barclays Mobile Banking app, which lets you manage your finances when you are out and about; and Barclays Pingit, an app that lets you send and receive money using just a mobile number."

So they are asking, what do you do with that time? How do you make the most of the moments and once they have all added up, what would you spend an extra hour on a week?

Let us know your thoughts on this thread - everyone who adds a comment before the closing date of 15th July 2013 will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 John Lewis voucher. Please note your anonymous submitted tips may well be used on the Barclays pages on MN as well as possibly elsewhere.

Thanks
MNHQ

Take a few deep breaths and appreciate being outdoors. Feel the sun or rain on my skin. I work 10hr shifts and sometimes dont see the sky all day so make the most of every moment when I'm not working... Although there are times when I might not be able to resist checking facebook ^^

Another who enjoys a quick read here. Kindle has been a life changer - I always used to find myself thinking 'I wish I had a book with me' but they were too bulky to carry around. Kindle is so convenient that I now take it everywhere.

Pick up a newspaper.

I'd grab a chance for a quick update on Mumsnet and Facebook - which comes first depends on which I've already looked at and if anything particularly interesting or exciting is happening on either of them.

After that I would look at Twitter - I'm more of a lurker than poster on there although I do occasionally post. But I do follow lots of people in my industry who are prolific posters and find it a really useful way to keep up to date with who is doing what, good papers or articles to read (that I'll either read there and then or stick onto an app like Instapaper to read later).

I do try to keep lists of things to do and shopping on my phone but I do like to have physical lists too so I keep a few spare cards in my bag in case I need to write or update any lists - these might get done in a few spare minutes, especially if I'm sitting waiting in the car rather than lurking in the playground or waiting outside a restaurant.

If it's near christmas then I keep a bag with all my christmas card lists, cards, stamps, addresses etc and try to get to school early - not only do I get a decent parking spot, I can put something nice on to listen to and have a few quiet minutes to get a good few done, a few days of this will make really good inroads into an otherwise arduous task.

If one of the dc is having their hair cut then forget free time - I'm closely monitoring. Luckily I have very deliberately not taught ds1 (8) the words 'big spiky mohican' as this is what he describes when at the barbers - whilst I am there saying 'actually just a short back and sides like normal'. And if dh takes ds1 to the barbers then I am too stressed to do anything other than worry what ds1 is going to look like when he comes back as chances are that a) he will describe what he wants again and dh will say 'oh you mean a big spiky mohican, that sounds fun' and let him have one or b) dh will decide to get his hair cut at the same time, they'll end up doing this concurrently instead of consecutively, end up seated apart and it will be left to ds to say what he wants doing to his hair...

I close my eyes and meditate on everything good in my life.

I tend to play a game on my phone or rather oddly work through bills etc... while I have a few minutes to think about it properly. If I had an hour I would most likely to to a little cafe and have a huge hot chocolate and a muffin and mumsnet

I'd just shut my eyes and focus on my breathing so I'm calm and relaxed for a change!

I end up doing things like this on mn!
I also look at fb, text people back, try and quickly tidy the house if at home.

My indulgences when I find some free time are:

1. I make a cup of tea and sit in a sunny spot with a magazine or my kindle.
2. I've also been known to have a relaxing bath in the middle of the day when I can have the water at the temperature I like it without extra bodies jumping in and then complaining that the water is too hot. I've tried having a bath after the kids are in bed but one of them will always come in for a chat with the excuse of needing the toilet for a stinky poo!

If I have unexpected free time I ususally find myself people watching. I work in the NHS and get to see all sorts on a daily basis so when I have a few minutes to myself I sometimes find myself thinking of the people I've seen that day and wondering how they must cope, it reminds me to count my blessings and stop sweating about the small stuff that I can usually do something about.

Sort out all of the mess in my handbag. There are usually a few used wet wipes and a stash of receipts or out of date coupons lurking in there which I never manage to sort through at home.

Depends where I was. The list of possibles would be:

Drink a cup of tea while it is still hot

Wonder aimlessly around my garden in peace

Read a book - I miss this!

Have a nap.

These are all things I NEVER have time to do!

Checking emails and transferrring dates into my (paper) diary - yes, I'm a dinosaur in some ways!

unexpected free time out of the house i browse at stuff that the dcs would be bored with like baking stuff or shoes!

Unexpected 5 minutes: check BBC news website, read a few pages on Kindle, read trashy magazine, wipe down some dusty surfaces, splash bleach into the toilets, check FB or Mumsnet, sit in silence and think about the day ahead

Unexpected hour: SLEEP IN MY BED ALONE whatever the time of day, this would be a lovely luxury

Read a book or a free newspaper. Window shop. Write a poem.

Cup of tea, cuddle with my puppy, and a read of whatever 'becoming a parent for the first time' book I happen to have to hand. Or, probably more often, a cup of tea and a load of DH's washing.... He's a chef so lots of it, always!

Rarely happens these days, with so much going on but on the rare occasion it does happen i tend to just switch off and relax for that time just to have 5 minutes in a day where i don't have to be somewhere or be on my way somewhere is too precious to flutter away ;)

read my kindle
paint my nails
nip to a clothes shop (I don't have much child free time!!)

Eat. Text. breathe. Clean out the glove compartment/boot/my bag.

I don't have spare time really - have a toddler/work full-time and am starting a new business. Would love an extra hour of sleep!

I do the household job that has been annoying me most - sweeping the sideboards of things that shouldn't be there, hoovering, hanging out the washing) but usually I will make a cup of tea first, leave it to cool while I do the job, and I usually have a minute to sit down and enjoy it at the end. It's amazing how much you ca get done and how much it relaxes me.

mumsnetting!! Currently I keeping rushing back on the 'how to save' thread to get even more tips!!

That never happens to me . If I had a book with me I'd definitely spend the time reading and relaxing, otherwise I might do a bit of window shopping if I'm near shops. If I had a phone with the internet on it I would probably do some emails etc.

I sew on brownie/rainbow badges or little bits of mending which otherwise would never get done!

I phone my daughter for a gossip, mainly to hear the latest funny thing our 3 year old grandson has said.