5 Ways we Use Alexa Every Day

Did I ever think I would need to have a device turn on lights and music for me? No, I definitely did not but now that I have it I can't imagine going back! It is a lot of fun. There are hundreds of things you can use Alexa for but these are the things we use every single day and it makes our lives more convenient. It's funny to hear Cole turning on music and lights too. The little stinker.



1. Play music
Our echo dot is located in the living room, which is fairly central on the first floor. Alexa can be accessed from anywhere since our floor plan is pretty open. We use Alexa to play music every day. We have another echo dot that is in the basement workshop (my husband always corrects me) and gets moved outside if we are out there. Alexa can link up to your pandora or play almost any song via amazon music. Cole is always bossing Alexa around and telling her, "Alexa, play country music." Plus, you can adjust the volume from anywhere just by using your voice. "Alexa, volume up two."

2. Timers
There are a lot of timers that we use in our house. Timers of how much longer Cole can watch tv or play on his kindle. Cooking timers. It's easier to yell to Alexa to set a timer as you're placing something in the oven than to remember to set the microwave or stove. It is for me anyway. As soon as I close the oven, I completely forget. Alexa is our back up in telling Cole he has ten more minutes until he has to take a nap. He is more likely to go without putting up a fight when Alexa's timer goes off. "Alexa, set 10 minute timer for bedtime."

3. Lights
We have 6 lights hooked up to Alexa - 4 in the living room, 1 in the kitchen and 1 in the den. We bought the philips hue smartbulbs and they are super easy to set up. What we like is that you don't need a dimmer switch but you can adjust the brightness of every single lamp. You can set them up so when they turn on they are a certain brightness. We have all of our living room lights set up so you can say, "Alexa, living room lights on" and they will all turn on. We also say, "Alexa, good night" and all of the lights go off at night.

4. Turn on our pool
We have our pool plugged in to a smart outlet so we can have Alexa turn on the pool and by we, I mean my husband turns it on from the app when he's at work. Super convenient! We had some string lights on our mantle that we used a smart outlet for and that made it super easy to just say, "Alexa, Christmas lights on" rather than reaching behind a million things to plug them in and out.

5. Add items to shopping list
My husband thinks it's funny to add home depot items or beer to this list *rolls eyes* but it is handy. If you're in the kitchen and getting low on something, you can ask Alexa to add it to your shopping list. "Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list." On the app, you can view your shopping list and easily check items off or delete them.

Do you use your Alexa every day? How?