Do you always have trouble keeping your New Year’s resolutions? You’re not alone. A study found only around 8 percent of people that make resolutions actually keep them.
Keeping your promise to yourself would be easier if you had a little nonjudgmental help. That’s where Alexa comes in. Here are some ways to use Alexa to make your New Year’s resolutions stick.
Stop that bad habit
When you have a moment of weakness, use the Talk Me Down skill. The goal of the skill is to talk you out of breaking your resolution.
After enabling the skill, say, “Alexa, talk me down,” and she’ll give you a motivational pep talk that will help you drop the fork, push away the pack of cigarettes or recork the bottle. It sounds cheesy, but it can actually help.
Watch this: Use tech to achieve your New Year’s resolutions
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Have better mornings
If your resolution is to be more productive and positive in the morning (guilty!), then you may find the My Morning skill helpful. It uses minute-long prompts to guide you through a wake up routine.
For example, Minute 1 could include silence/meditation, Minute 2 could be a prompt to visualize your day, Minute 3 could ask you to think of five things you’re grateful for, Minute 4 could have you list your top three priorities for the day, and so on. Basically, it’s Alexa getting your rear in gear with some motivational techniques.
Save the planet
Taking better care of the Earth is always a great resolution. One step you can start with this January is taking shorter showers to conserve water and electricity.
The Shower Timer skill tracks your time in the shower and challenges you to beat your record each day. It kind of makes a game out of being greener.
Get better sleep
If you can never get to sleep on time, and resolve that 2019 is the year to finally get on track, try the Sleep Helper skill. It guides you through breathing exercises while you lie in bed. The exercises are meant to relax your body and put you to sleep quickly.
Be more adventurous
The hardest part about being more adventurous in the new year is coming up with ideas. The Daily Things skill gives you something new to try every day. Just say, “Alexa, ask Daily Things to give me an idea.” If you don’t like the suggestion, just ask for another one.
Some ideas the skill has given me are to play a new board game with friends, learn a new dance like salsa and write an article for a magazine.