Many people enjoy creating resolutions at the start of a new year. On the other hand, others may feel like they don’t have enough time to plan and execute big changes due to long workdays, busy family life, and tight routines. If that describes you, perhaps your resolution should be to find ways to save time so that you can do more outside your daily schedule.

A Control4 smart home automation system offers manyways to help you save time every day. Control4 works for you by automating daily functions around your Phoenix, AZ home and providing intuitive ways to operate your home in seconds—no matter where you are. Read below to learn four time-saving ways to use your Control4 smart home in the new year.

SEE ALSO: How to Make the Most of Staying Home with Control4

Get Creative with Schedules

Control4 makes it easy to personalize your smart home to work for you. With Control4’s When >> Then web platform, available with a Control4 4Sight subscription, you can program your smart home to adjust based on schedules you set. Think of “When” as a trigger and “Then” as an action or reaction.

For example, when the sun rises, then your porch lightswill turn off.When the sun sets, then your window shades will close. When the clock strikes 10pm, then your doors willlock and the housealarm will set. You can experiment, test new automations you create, and save time by allowing Control4 to adjust your lights, shades, thermostats, door locks, and more for you based on a set schedule or action.

Create Whole-Home Scenes

While it’s not practical to create automated schedules for every device in your home, you can also use Control4 to create whole-home smart home scenes that instantly adjust multiple devicessimultaneously at your command.

For example, after a long day at work, use the Control4 mobile app, dedicated Control4 touchscreen, or an on-wall keypad to tap your “Relax” scene, which can dim the house lights to 50%, close the window shades, start a jazz playlist in the dining room and on the patio, and power on the home theater for your kids. Additionally, a “Goodnight” scene can turn off your house lights, lock the doors, arm the alarm, and adjust the thermostats so you can quickly crawl into bed and read before going to sleep.

Speak Up with Voice Control

Control4 not only allows you to personalize your smart home schedules and scenes, but it allows you to personalize how you control your devices, too. You’re not limited to an app or wall keypad. You can use other means of control that offer the most convenience in the moment.

Voice control is an excellent way to operate your home on a whim when your hands are full or you’re in the middle of a task. Rather than looking for your smartphone or Neeo remote, simply say a command to your voice control assistant nearby—whether that’s Alexa, Google, Siri, or Josh. Tell your virtual assistant to activate a smart home scene, brighten the lights in the kitchen, turn on a movie in the media room, bring up camera footage on your TV of who’s at the door, and so much more.

Take Advantage of the Favorites Dashboard

Control4 is more intuitive than ever after releasing its latest operating system OS 3. Among thousands of new features, OS 3 provides users with an all-new Favorites dashboard, which allows you to quickly drag and drop the most popular smart home icons onto your main dashboard screen so that they’re easier to access.

Anything throughout your home can be added to your Favorites dashboard: lights, music streaming services, specific scenes, door locks, security system, cameras, and more. Quickly drag and drop the icons to the dashboard so that they are front and center on your phone, touchscreen, or Neeo remoteand ready to use. The result is fewer touches, page swipes, and taps.

Let Control4 help save you time this year so that you can spend more time on yourself. Check out our free Control4 tutorial videos to learn what else you can do with Control4. If you’re ready to bring Control4 to your home, contact Wipliance here or use the live chat box below!