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Five surprising ways Amazon Echo can distract you when you're bored to tears

Your friends might be too busy to hang out, but Alexa isn’t.


Hey, Alexa, I'm soooo bored.

Ian Knighton/CNET

We've all had those days -- you've got absolutely no plans and you're going stir-crazy. But instead of losing your mind because you have nothing to do, you can use your Amazon Echo ($100 at Amazon) to ease your boredom. The Alexa voice assistant has tons of activities to keep you entertained, like trivia games and even an escape room. 

Plus, if you have friends over and you're still bored, you can do everything on this list with them. All you have to do to get started is to enable these skills in the Alexa app. 

Plan your escape

You already feel trapped at home, so why not make it fun and plan your escape to get the heck outta there. You'll need to enable the Escape the Room skill in the Alexa app in order to get started. When you're ready to start playing, say, "Alexa, open Escape the Room."

You're given five different scenarios to choose from -- jail cell, office, car, airplane or garage -- and the goal is to, well, escape. You'll be given puzzles that you have to solve in order to get out of the room. The game will have you looking in all directions, inspecting items for clues and using objects around the house.


Plan an escape and learn new facts with Alexa.

Ian Knighton/CNET

Alexa, I'm bored

Can't come up with anything to do? Just say the phrase you told your parents all the time when you were younger: "Alexa, I'm bored." And that's all you'll have to tell Alexa when you're ready for the bot to make those dull thoughts go away. Just enable the I'm Bored skill in the Alexa app on your phone to get started. That's Settings > Skills & Games > Search for I'm Bored > Tap Enable To Use.

Once you tell Alexa you're bored, you'll get a response with a fun fact. The intention is to find something so interesting to you that you'll spend a little more time researching the topic and forget that you're bored. After all, the more interests you have, the more likely it is that you'll always have something to do.

Now playing: Watch this: The first 5 things to do with a new Amazon Echo

Play a trivia game -- yes, you can play alone

Alexa is known for many things, like controlling smart home devices , but sometimes your assistant friend just wants to have fun. Ask Alexa to play games like Jeopardy, Harry Potter trivia, True or False, Song Quiz and many more. In fact, Alexa has enough games to keep you entertained for hours. Once you get bored with one game, you can move on to the next.

Listen to a mysterious story

Lacking mystery in your life? Check out the CBS Radio Mystery Theater skill on the Alexa app. It's an old-time radio show that adds juicy drama to your monotonous day. When you're ready to listen to a story, say, "Alexa, open Radio Mystery Theater." If you're not interested in the mystery, say, "Alexa, next" to skip to the next story.

Disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company.


Your Echo can be your personal trainer.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Every time you get bored, do a situp

If you're just sitting around on the couch with no plans, you might as well get a workout in. It'll make you feel better and might give you some motivation to do something fun. The Amazon Alexa app offers tons of different fitness skills, but we like the guided workout routines the best.

Once you've enabled the skill you like best, you can get your workout on. Just say something like, "Alexa, start 7-Minute Workout" or "Alexa, ask Fitness Guru to give me an upper-body exercise." Imagine how toned your arms would look if you did a quick workout every time you said you were bored!

Need more help with your Amazon Echo? Check out these 6 essential Amazon Echo tips you'll use every day and learn how Amazon Echo's auto features can make your day smooth as buttah.

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Amazon Echo (2017,Heather Gray Fabric)
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