We recently got a few Amazon Alexa’s for Christmas and it’s amazing how useful these things are! Sure, I wish I could just say “hey Alexa, cook dinner” or “hey Alexa, fold my laundry” and it would happen but it does help us out a lot in ways we didn’t even realize. It’s nice to have an assistant who is able to set timers, play music, check the weather and answer questions I may have. I usually ask Alexa to do something or answer a question before I take out my phone. You can also sync it to other technology in your house so we can turn on lights, change the temperature and other systems.

How We Use the Alexa in the Kitchen

We have an Alexa in the kitchen and it can hear us tell it to do things anywhere on the first floor which is really nice. While I unload and load the dishwasher or cook dinner at night, I like to have Alexa play music or play a podcast. Without having to waste time on my phone pressing buttons to play what I want, I just simply have to tell Alexa to play. If I’m cooking, it can tell Alexa to set a timer or ask it a question while my hands are dirty. The volume is great and can be heard throughout the entire first floor and even house so I can go from room to room without missing a tune or missing parts of my podcast.

How We Use the Alexa in our Bedroom

We replaced my very old alarm clock from college with an Alexa and at first I was a little nervous with the change. Are we sure it was going to go off? Was it going to wake me up?? I asked Alexa to set my daily alarm for a certain time and she said she would so I went to sleep. The next morning I woke up to a very pleasant alarm and was happy I swapped out the alarm clocks. I was able to create a morning routine with my Alexa so in the morning I have an alarm that goes off, that I usually hit snooze on and then a few minutes later, Alexa gives me the morning briefing. A customizable feature that shares snippets of news stories. I love it because the noise helps wake me up in the morning better than an annoying alarm going off. You can also create a nighttime routine, I’ll have the evening briefing news play at night which is a sign that I should be getting into bed for the night. Sounds silly, but it’s nice to have something to help me stick to my routine. Alexa is growing in what it is able to do. You can also create lists and easily order items by just saying “Alexa, add diet coke to my grocery list” or “Alexa, order paper towels”.