Here are my top 5 best Google Home uses for business – based on how I often use it in my office during average working week.

BEST GOOGLE HOME USES FOR BUSINESS

1. Setting a timer

A really simple way to get a reminder without having to type into a device or your calender. Maybe  a reminder to get up and do a couple of stretches, get a glass of water, pat the dog, etc. Just say say “Hey Google set a <20 minute tasks> timer”. You can then work uninterrupted on your particular task until the timer goes off. To stop the timer once it goes off say “Hey Google stop”.

2. Leveraging the Pomodoro method to boost your work focus and efficiency

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.[1] The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros. There are six steps in the original technique:

BEST GOOGLE HOME USES FOR BUSINESSS

BEST GOOGLE HOME USES FOR BUSINESS – pomodoro

  1. Decide on the task to be done.
  2. Set the pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes).[1]
  3. Work on the task.
  4. End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper.[5]
  5. If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to step 2.
  6. After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.

3. Need to do a quick calculation or get help with spelling?

No need to hunt out the calculator or even type the request out into Chrome. Simply ask:
“Hey Google, what’s <390 divided by 39.5>?”
“OK Google, what’s <300 feet in metres>?”
“OK Google, how do you spell <supercalifragilisticexpialidocious>?’

4. Working  with your calendar

This is where I get most advantage out of the Google Home and where I imagine you will too.

For example to quickly add an event titled ‘phone Terry” for 3pm tomorrow to your calendar simply say, “Hey Google, add <phone Terry tomorrow at 3pm> to my calendar”.

Or you could say “Ok Google add <wife’s birthday dinner> to my calendar”. Google Home will ask you to specify a day and a time. By default the event will be set for 1 hour.

You can also find out what event/appointment is next on your calendar by asking “Hey Google, what’s my next event” or find out what you have planned for a particular day “Hey Google what’s planned for <Tuesday>”.

5. Playing some music while you are working

Another of my best Google Home uses for business. Being able to play music whilst I’m working has become very important to me, and using the Google Home means getting much better quality sound than out of my little laptop speakers.

best Google Home uses for business.

Spotify: Another of my best Google Home uses for business.

You can stream Australian radio stations by simply saying “Hey Google play <ABC radio 702>” for example to start the radio station. “Hey Google stop” will stop the station playing.

If you have a Google Play or Spotify subscription then you can stream music from these services by saying “Hey Google play <Coldplay>” to play all Coldplay  songs.

If you have uploaded music to Google Play then you can add that music to a playlist (like “Workday”) and ask Google Home to play the playlist: “Hey Google, play my <Workday> playlist”. To stop just say “Hey Google stop”.

I also use it to listen to podcasts – particularly long and motivational ones like the GaryVee Show.

Get a full list of Google Home commands at the Help Centre and if you have any suggestions on how you use Google Home in your home based business, then I’d love to hear them in the comments.

Best Google Home uses for business.

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