Meet Alexa, My Digital ADHD Assistant

She's super helpful and even tells me jokes.

Photo by Andres Urena on Unsplash

If there is one thing I am a master of, it is underutilizing the exact things that are supposed to make my life easier. I’m not kidding. Remember how we were told as kids that we only used 10% of our brains? My whole life has been like that.

I use about 10% of everything. The other 90% pretty much ends up taking up space or weight. For years I had one of those fancy coffee pots that had a timer and self-cleaning functions and would grind the beans for you right then and there. Yeah, I used it in manual mode like it was a $19.99 Mister Coffee.

Also, that 10% thing about out brains? Not a thing. The more you know…

My desire to keep moving through life in this manner came to a screeching halt when I was diagnosed in October with ADHD at age 48. One of the hardest things to grapple with has been the anger at how much time and productivity I have lost over the last 35 years.

When I started writing about my experience and making videos for the world to see, so many people told me they use digital assistants to help them. This idea terrified me.

Look, I don’t have the time to learn one more damn piece of technology. I can barely use what I have. I can’t even be trusted to figure out a watch.

Of course, this started to make less and less sense to me as I looked around my 775 sq. ft. apartment and realized I had not one but TWO Amazon Echos. So, two weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and figure this out, and…my…life…is…changed.

It was not as terrifying as I thought it would be to figure out my Echo, and since they are cheap as hell right now for the holidays, I thought I’d do the heavy lifting for you and let you know exactly what my new little digital assistant can do.

The Basics

There’s the usual stuff. You can ask Alexa to set a timer or an alarm. Using Alexa solely for this and to play music is running it in Mister Coffee mode. That ain’t why you buy it. Still, it’s good to have, and asking Alexa to wake you up to certain music, at a certain volume, is pretty damn nice.

However, I can tell you I use the timer when I start a hyperfixation task, so I don’t lose an entire afternoon. I give myself 30 minutes to hyperfixate on something like reorganizing the pantry. The timer goes off, I’m done.

Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash

Shopping Lists

There is nothing more frustrating than putting in a grocery order or getting home from the store and realizing there were five other things you forgot you needed. And somehow, it is always the most crucial “I can’t forget this” item. Enter yelling household goods at no one.

There is great joy in yelling out into the ether for a disembodied voice to add paper towels to your shopping list. This is power.

You can ask Alexa to add things to your shopping list and check it on your app on your phone. As you are unpacking your groceries, you can yell out for things to be removed.

You can actually create a list for anything (packing, camping, reading) and have her add things to it. You can see it in the app and have her read it back to you. Might I recommend a to-do list?

Get answers without the rabbit hole

Let’s be real. The most dangerous place for anyone with ADHD to be is right in front of a browser window. That’s the devil’s playground. Even if we remember why we opened the window and actually search for what we’re looking for, the odds that we will open 14 more windows based on shit that blinks at us is high.

All you have to do is ask Alexa a question, and she’s going to look it up and find you the answer and spit it out.

Need to know the weather in Dallas on Thursday? Done. When the next Suns game is? Done. When Abe Vigoda died? Done.

Calendar management

I just learned this one, and I am shook. I have linked Alexa to my Google calendar and can ask her to add appointments, reminders, and birthdays to my calendar. She will remind me 15 minutes before the appointment.

I can also ask her what appointments I have in the next few days. Now, I add everything to my calendar. Tiny things. When I am away from home, I can add it to my Google calendar or my Alexa app and they store everything in one place.

Find your phone

Yeah, I call myself a lot from my Echo. All you need to do is connect your phone to the Echo and she can help you locate your phone by calling it.

Stop being late

People with ADHD have a hard time being on time. We lose track of time (hello timers and calendar feature!) but also WAY underestimate how long it will take us to get somewhere.

Alexa knows where she lives. You can ask her how long it will take to get to where you need to be and she will check, consider traffic, and tell you when you need to leave.

This is kind of the tip of the iceberg, too. I am going to be doing some deeper dives into more complicated tasks like having her take you through a whole routine or how to integrate other parts of your house.

Every version of the Amazon Echo is half off right now so you can get one (like this one) for as cheap as $15. Also, if you head over to TikTok, I’m making short videos that demonstrate Alexa in action!

Lastly, one other thing to do: Ask Alexa what her quest is. You’re welcome.

*Disclaimer: The links above are affiliate links, if you do make a purchase, I do get a very small amount based on that.

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