5 Ways Alexa Helps Simplify Our Lives
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How can Alexa help simplify your life?
We’ve been able to become more streamlined and organized the longer we use Alexa. I don’t know about you, but with all that life throws at you it can be easy to forget things or overlook things that need to be done. I know I’m not the only one!
We use “her” for many different things to make our lives easier and more organized so that we don’t have to stress about remembering things.
Easily Set Up These Simplifications
All you need is your voice (or you can use the app).
This makes it especially helpful if you’re limited in physical ability or perhaps struggle with memory issues.
In my husbands’ case, it can be hard to stay focused for long periods of time and memory is not what it used to be. She helps him with that and also enables him to multitask.
So if he’s making dinner, he doesn’t have to stop- get his hands dirty by using his wheels to get to the thermostat- then come back to the kitchen and wash his hands again-and then get back to food prep. Alexa helps him so much in this area.
Here are 5 ways that Alexa will help you simplify your life.
1- Timers
Anything from brewing tea, chilling a beverage in the freezer to cooking.
How many of you have put a drink in the freezer to cool really quick and you forgot? Now it’s either exploded or solid ice so now you can’t drink it?
I’ll even admit to forgetting about a bottle of champagne-ugh!
Yes, they are simple things- but it so easy to forget!
Just say “ Alexa- set a timer for 5 minutes (or however many minutes you need). She will immediately respond that she has started a timer. When the timer goes off, to stop it just say “Alexa stop”. She can keep track of more than one timer at a time as well.
2- Reminders
Alexa has basic/one-time reminders as well as scheduled/recurring.
For a one-time reminder, just say “Alexa- remind me at 4 pm to call the pharmacy”, or- “remind me at 10 am to set a dentist appointment”. That way if you can’t do something right then and there, you can just tell her to remind you either at a set time or in an hour/time span you need.
You can set a one-time reminder for the future as well. So it’s Wednesday night and your child just told you about a school event next week that you need to pick up supplies for? You can say “Alexa- remind me on Saturday at 9 am to get art supplies” and she will.
3- Recurring Reminders to Build New Life Habits
These really come in handy. You can set these up in two different ways. The quickest way is to say “Alexa- remind me every day at 2 pm” and she will ask you “what is the reminder for?” You’ll say “take blood pressure medicine/take pills/injection”. She’ll do that every day for you.
The other way is to do it on the app. That’s the way I do it if something comes to my mind in the middle of the night. Rather than yell to the other room-I just type it in. My husband is also famous for rolling over at 2 am and asking me to remind him about something.
(In the app, you can only set reminders on the main phone used to link up Alexa, so he can’t do it from his phone).
I just grab my phone and schedule it in Alexa. You open the Alexa app- hit the left upper menu- choose Reminder-add reminder- then choose the time/date for it and it will be set.
These begin to build a ROUTINE for you.
New healthy habits and routines! Yoga, meditation, taking supplements, cleaning-you name it.
This is great for things like medication reminders or wellness reminders. You can have her remind you each morning, afternoon, and evening to take certain medications.
Some people have numerous medications they have to keep up with and are supposed to take at different times of the day.
She reminds us each day at 2 pm to have a Green Tea break. That way we get to pause our day, drink our green tea, and reap the health benefits. If not- we would most likely forget about the time.
Each night at 10 pm we have a reminder for a 5-minute wrap-up. That prompts us to look at our schedule to see if there was anything we didn’t get to accomplish. If so- we carry it over to tomorrow’s schedule. We quickly review what’s on tap for tomorrow so we know what we are looking at when we wake up.
Do you have paper clutter from so much mail? If so, have her remind you once a week to “Organize Mail”. This helps you keep the stress of paper clutter at bay.
Do you forget to water your plants? You can have her remind you on a specific day and time to water the plants so you can have a green thumb.
See how the reminders can start getting you on track with schedules and habits?
4- Controlling your a/c or heater
You will first have to link Alexa with the app for that device (like your Smart Thermostat). Then you can say “Alexa- make it cooler/warmer” and she will adjust by 2 degrees either way. You can also be more specific and say “Alexa- turn AC to 79” and she will.
This comes in handy when you are preparing dinner and have chicken in your hands and you are sweating in the kitchen. This way you can just ask her to do it, rather than putting the food down, washing your hands, leaving the room, and then coming back to work on the food again.
5- Shopping & grocery lists
When you realize you are out of something or running low- you can quickly add it to your shopping list so that before you go she can tell you what you had wanted to get.
Just say “Alexa- add toothpaste to the shopping list” and she will. You can add several things at the same time too “ Alexa- add paper towels, cat food, honey and toothpaste to the shopping list” and she will.
Then, when you are getting ready to go to the store- you can ask her “Alexa- what’s on the shopping list” and she will tell you- or– you can open the app if you forgot to ask her, go to the upper left menu and choose lists- shopping lists.
So many useful options
Yes, there are so many other things you can do with Alexa, but we wanted to list what we use to help us simplify our routines and to keep us on schedule. Reminders have become our “go-to” because they take seconds to set up and are so helpful.
There are many options for being Alexa, with fancy covers and colors too. We use this version, and although it may not be the fanciest option, it does what we need her to do.
If you have a two-story house, it’s great to have an Echo Dot on one floor too, so that you not only hear the reminders but also actively use it to set new timers, reminders, add to your lists, etc.
A helpful tip– usually around the holidays, Best Buy adds an Echo Dot to numerous products for a bundle-like deal. Last year they had bundles with smart thermostats, smart doorbells, security cams, etc.
Your new behaviors turn into Routines & Healthy Habits
They say it takes 3 weeks to form a new habit. Let Alexa help you develop these new habits so that you can become a more organized and healthy you!
It is so quick to set up new recurring reminders. Think about the ways that you want to improve in your life and then use her to help you.
She is like your Accountability Buddy.
I’m sure you can find several things she can help streamline for you. You can start getting used to a schedule/routine to enhance your wellness or just keep you on track with daily chores/health. You could use her to remind you to sneak in that quick exercise in the morning so that it becomes a habit.
Amazon has a page that shows and explains all of the things that Alexa can help you with. You may be able to find a few that you like here.
How about you? Do you use Alexa or a Home Assistant to help simplify your life? Want to share with others what helps you? Leave a comment –we would love to hear your suggestions.