We’re all spending a lot more time at home, and it can be tough going. That’s where your smart speaker can help. Think of it as your keen and eager little assistant, always ready to come up with ways to make lockdown a little more bearable.
From playing relaxing music to coming up with home fitness routines, your smart speaker can do more than you might think. All you need to do is ask!
Stay fit and healthy
It can be difficult trying to keep fit at home, so use your smart speaker as a personal trainer. Alexa can take you through the famous 7-minute home workout at your own pace. You can take breaks at any time, and let Alexa know when you’re ready to start again.
You can also use your smart speaker to check fitness stats. Alexa will give you updates on all your Fitbit activity, and Google Assistant will do the same for Google Fit, if you’ve got the app on your smartphone.
Get cooking
Your smart speaker can be a great help in the kitchen, and they’ll happily read out recipes step-by-step as you cook. Alexa has lots of other cooking skills available, and ‘Ingredients Sub’ is a really useful one. If you’re half way through a recipe and discover you’re missing a key ingredient, don’t panic. Just say: “Alexa, ask Ingredient Sub what I can use instead of…” and you’ll be given a list of suitable replacements.
Relax and meditate
If the kids have been getting under your feet all day, try not to stress too much. Let them have some ‘game console time’ and use your smart speaker for a spot of relaxation. You can stream your favourite calming playlist from the likes of Spotify, or ask Google Assistant to help you relax – it’ll then play calming sounds for you.
If you’re looking for more ideas to help you get in a positive frame of mind, Headspace is a great guided meditation app. Install it on your smartphone, and you can ask your smart speaker to start your daily meditation. Then just before you go to bed, you can say: “Tell Headspace I’m ready to sleep” for some relaxing sounds to help nod off.
Have fun with a quiz
Fancy a quiz? Ask Google Assistant to ‘Play Lucky Trivia’, and you’ll be given questions covering a range of topics. You can compete on your own, or go head-to-head with someone else in your house.
Alexa has its fair share of quizzes built-in, so try saying ‘Alexa, play True or False’ or ‘Alexa, start Song Quiz’ to get involved. For more quiz ideas, go into the Alexa app on smartphone and search under ‘Games & Trivia’.
Tell the kids a bedtime story
At the end of a busy day, your smart speakers can even help you get the kids settled down with a bedtime story. ‘Alexa, read a bedtime story’ or ‘OK Google, tell me a fairytale story’ is all it takes. Then you can relax along with the kids, as their favourite story gets read out. Just try not to fall asleep yourself, okay?
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