Technology can be used to make our lives easier in many ways. One of my favorite tools to ease my daily anxiety is my Amazon Echo and all of its accessories. If you are on the fence about purchasing any of these things, please use this post to help you decide if the Echo is a good fit for you. I refer to my main Echo as “Alexa” throughout this post.
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Kitchen Timer
My Alexa helps me keep timers in the kitchen in many ways. I personally enjoy cooking, and I use my Alexa to keep multiple timers going while I cook multiple courses. If you don’t cook much, you can also use the timer feature for things like screen time, homework, face mask timer, time out timer, and much more. Simply say “Alexa (or whatever your wake word is), set a timer for 15 minutes” and then continue on with your life!
Music
As soon as my kids and I sit at the breakfast table in the morning I say “Alexa, play Disney Princess Radio” and my 2 year old daughter finishes my statement with “On Apple Music”. Once the kids are playing and I start cleaning the kitchen I say “Alexa, play New Found Glory Radio” and it automatically changes to my Pandora station. It’s part of our routine. Your Alexa can link to the following music streaming services as well as many more:
- Apple Music
- Pandora
- Amazon Music
- Spotify Premium
- SiriusXM
Grocery list
If you need to keep an ongoing list of groceries throughout the week, you need an Alexa. When I notice something in the kitchen is getting low I say “Alexa, add eggs to my grocery list” and she adds eggs! Also, my husband can access this grocery list on his phone on the Alexa iPhone app and can pick up whatever we need if he is out and about.
View recipes
Cooking is so fun until you have to unlock your phone or turn the cookbook page with a hand covered in raw chicken juice. The Amazon Echo Show has a skill that will show you your recipes hands free while you cook with a little less stress. The Echo Show can also make video calls, check security cameras, and has many other wonderful features. Check it out more or purchase yours here.
Alarm Clock
Your Amazon Echo can be used as an alarm clock for both you and your kids. Alexa has a simple alarm clock skill that allows you to easily set alarms and snooze for that all important extra 10 minutes of sleep. An Alexa skill can also be used for a more personalized alarm. You just say, “Alexa, wake me up to (song name) by (artist) at (time)”, or even some radio stations. It works with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio. You can also ask Alexa to play ambient sounds or bedtime music. I love the kids Echo Dot for this reason. Check them out and get yours now here.
Settle an Argument
Whether its a friendly conversation during game night with your friends or homework help needed around the kitchen table, Alexa’s skills can help you settle an arguement. Use skills like “Coin Flip” or Magic 8-Ball” for answers based on chance, or ask Alexa to look up specific information for you.
Kids Entertainment
The Echo Show can show videos to entertain your kids (we ALL need this sometimes), but here are a few other creative ways Alexa can work with your kids:
- Tooth Fairy: Alexa can help your kids brush their teeth by setting timers and giving words of encouragement during brushing time by saying “Alexa, open the Tooth Fairy”.
- Short Bedtime Story: This skill has Alexa tell your kiddo a short bedtime story, personalized with their own name.
- Animal Workout: This skill is a great activity for you and your kids to get some energy out, or for when you need 15 minutes of your kids being occupied. Kids (and mommas) can become different animals while getting some good exercise and probably a few good laughs.
Check out this adorable rainbow Echo Dot and put one in your family room!
Order Food or Drinks
Alexa has many delivery and restaurant skills, allowing you to order food or sugary coffee to be delivered right to your doorstep. As human powerhouses, sometimes we just need someone to put nourishing food fuel in front of us to eat. I use Alexa to order pizza, Starbucks, GrubHub, you know, the essentials.
Create Reminders
Creating a reminder with Alexa is as easy as saying, “Alexa, remind me to…” and telling her what you want to remind you and when you want her to remind you. The reminders sync across your account too, so if you’re using multiple Alexa-enabled devices or from the app on your phone, it’s easy to add reminders wherever you are. For example, you can ask her to remind you to mail that birthday card “tomorrow at 2:00pm” or “in five minutes”, whatever works best.
Finally Read That Book
One of the cool features of Echo devices is that they play your purchased books on Audible just like you would from your phone, tablet, or computer. But one thing that I haven’t seen mentioned a lot is that Alexa can actually read your Kindle e-books out loud to you as well. Even though she reads it in her own voice, it can still be a great way to pick up your latest read while your hands are tied.
Track Packages
This one sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s worth mentioning that Alexa, being the brainchild of Amazon, keeps really good track of tracking your packages that you’ve ordered from Amazon. You also can enable delivery notifications so that you’ll know if it’s worth the trek to the mailbox when the weather is gross. In addition, Alexa is smart enough to not automatically yell out the names of products purchased, which can either help avoid spoiling the surprise of the Christmas presents you ordered or the embarrassment of having Alexa announce to your in-laws that your Stool Softener was delivered.
Smart Plugs
With so many smart home devices and gadgets out there, it doesn’t take much to get used to the convenience of getting stuff done by just giving a command. But what about things that don’t have that kind of connectivity? Thankfully, there’s a whole slew of wifi-enabled smart plugs that connect to Alexa that add voice control to stuff you use every single day. The most obvious application of this is with lamps around the house, but there are so many possibilities for adding a smart connection to various appliances. Not only can Alexa control the on and off with a smart plug, but you can create scheduled times as well. Many of them have the ability to create scenes for various times throughout the day. For example, you can have a “wake up” scene in the winter time that turns on the coffee maker, flips on the lights, and turns on the space heater, and then turns them off after everyone is off to school or work. Or maybe you’re perpetually worried about if you left your curling iron or straightener plugged in. Plug them into a smart plug that shuts off after 9am. Problem solved.
Smart House
Once you become an Alexa pro you will want to expand your powerhouse Alexa kingdom and let her take over your house (and pray it doesn’t turn out like Disney’s Smart House). When you are ready for more, check out these awesome gadgets that are Amazon Verified to work with Alexa:
Make Calls & Texts
When the Echo devices first came out, they had the capability of calling and texting other Echo users and calling between the smartphone app. Now, you can do that plus calling and texting phone numbers. If you’ve allowed the app to sync your contacts when you set up the device, you can just tell Alexa to call or text whoever you want, and she’ll make the connection for you! This kind of thing comes in handy when your hands are full and need to get ahold of somebody. Another cool feature related to this is that you can type announcements for Alexa to speak when you’re away, like “Dinner is ready” or whatever you want.
Order On Amazon
This sounds self-explanatory, but it really is this easy. This works especially well for stuff you’ve already ordered in the past. Just tell Alexa, “Order more triple A batteries” and let her handle it for you. Problem solved!
