If you tend to lie awake in bed, anxious about what you’ve forgotten to do today or prepare for tomorrow, it’s likely you’re not taking advantage of Google Assistant’s “Bedtime” routine. Once you’ve set it up, you can simply say “Goodnight” to Google through any device, and Assistant will execute an automated set of reactions, from turning the lights down and playing white noise to giving you a much-needed compliment.
How to set up Google Assistant’s “Bedtime” routine
Go to your Google Home app on your mobile device and from the bottom tray, tap “Automations.” From there, scroll to your “Bedtime” automation, and tap on it. Under “Starters,” you can change the phrase you say to Google to activate the automation, or have it simply execute at a set time each night. Under “Actions” you can add all the automations Google should complete. At the end, hit “Save.”
Adjust your home smart devices
I prefer to turn off all the lights after I get into bed, because I am clumsy AF and like to get comfortably set up first. One of the first automations I made was to turn off all my lights. I get settled in and then say, “Hey Google, goodnight.” My favorite lighting hack is to set all lights to “off,” but turn the bathroom light to 1%, just enough to see. (I hate getting blasted with the bathroom lights in the middle of the night.)
Google will execute this lighting scheme, but is capable of a lot more. You can adjust any of your home smart devices, whether that’s your yard lighting, your smart A/Cs, your dishwasher, and so on. You can double-check the oven’s off, make sure the front and back door is locked, and that you didn’t leave the garage door open.
Get set up for the next day
Google can tell you what you didn’t get done today, so you don’t go to sleep worrying if something isn’t on your list. You can converse with Google Assistant to add a task, too, so it’s off your mind. It’s the equivalent of writing it on a pad by your bed.
If you have the right permissions set in Google Administrator, you can have Assistant access your calendar, and it will tell you either the first appointment of the day, or read your whole calendar day to you. You can get the next day’s forecast—in fact, you can set up weather alerts for other locations, if you’re traveling. Google can even tell you about your commute tomorrow to help you better plan.
Need an alarm? Google will ask you what time you’d like to wake up, and you can simply respond with the time or say, “no alarm needed.” It’ll set it, using the preset alarm sound you’ve chosen in your settings. If you need the same alarm every day (or different alarms for weekdays vs weekends) you can create a preset. If you prefer to sleep in daily, you can tell the automation to stop asking.
Get a little help falling asleep
Regardless of what music services you have networked into your devices, Assistant has some presets you can choose from for white noise, from nature sounds to actual white noise. You can also set it to play specific music from your playlists for a set amount of time. Or you can listen to the news or a podcast of your choosing.
Google has all kinds of additional services it can provide, from reminding you of birthdays to telling you a goodnight joke or bedtime story. It can even sing you a song, read a historical fact or give you a compliment. (Getting a compliment every night turns out to be kind of sweet.)
Google will adjust phone volume for you, or put on do not disturb. Maybe you’re someone like me who wants to know if there’s an emergency, and maybe you’re someone who wants silence at all costs. Assistant lets you decide in the settings.
How to access Google Assistant
Your Google Assistant-enabled phone is all you need to access these commands, but if you’d like to spare your battery and get a more ambient white noise experience, you can always opt into a hub. The least expensive way to do this is through the Nest Mini ($49). Having one in your room means you can access commands by talking to the hub, and gives you a better speaker than your phone. Once you have one, mount it to a wall or ceiling to keep the cords out the way and the sound clear.
