No secret here that water is kind of a big deal. It not only composes about 60% of your body weight, but every single bodily system depends on it. As the Mayo Clinic pointed out, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells, and provides a moist environment for ear, nose, and throat tissues.

And yet, for something so essential, there’s so much stuff that gets in the way of staying adequately hydrated.

It doesn’t taste good!

I can’t remember!

I’ll have to pee every 20 minutes!

It’s time to swallow all of those excuses. Here we share easy ways to drink more water so that you can improve your overall health.

Drink a glass as soon as you wake up.

Before you even have your morning coffee, force yourself to drink a glass of H2O. By hydrating as soon as you wake up, you’re refueling yourself after a night of slumber and starting things off on the right foot, which means you’re likely to drink more water again later.

Want to take it a step further? Adding lemon juice and cayenne pepper both have major anti-fungal, immune-boosting, and detoxification properties. Plus, lemon juice is nature’s best tool for aiding digestion and regularity, destroying bacteria, and cleansing the system.

Keep a bottomless bottle on your desk.

As we’re often at work for eight hours or more, which is the majority of our day, it’s a prime opportunity to drink more water. Keep a large water bottle filled to the top at your desk and sip all day. Make up your mind that when it gets below a certain point, you’ll get up and refill it. Freezing in your office? Intersperse your H2O with decaf green tea, which also hydrates.

Don’t have a desk job? Carry a reusable bottle with you everywhere you go and refill it throughout the day. Keeping a refreshment companion with you will serve as a constant reminder to drink up.

Turn transitions into triggers.

If you have trouble remembering to drink more water, get into the habit of sipping whenever you switch from one activity to the next. For instance, finish your bottle before you get out of the car to go to work, or don’t leave for lunch without finishing the glass of water on your desk.

Sip, don’t gulp.

Did you know that sipping water regularly instead of gulping down larger amounts helps urine excretion lower by 6 times? The body absorbs more of the water and stays hydrated, but it doesn’t result in increased trips to the bathroom. Sipping water, rather than drinking a lot over a short period of time, seems to allow the body to efficiently process the water and hydrate without the spike in urination we see with gulping water.

Use an app.

There are plenty of free water tracking apps you can download that will help you track how much you’ve consumed during the day. They can be set to show reminders throughout the day and also record your drinks. You can also go the old-fashioned route and write it down on a Post-It (or even in your Notes section on your phone) in an effort to drink more water.

Fancy-up your hydration.

We know that plain H2O can be boring — especially when you drink it all day, every day. In addition to the option of sparkling water, you can dress up your regular refreshment by infusing it with some fruit or herbs, which could give you a reason to stay hydrated. By “infusing” we really just mean chopping up some fruit or herbs and throwing it into a pitcher. Stirring in some lemon or orange wheels? Keep in mind that unpeeled citrus lends a bitter taste. So if you’re planning to make a big batch to last all day, peel off the skin before adding the fruit to your water.

Having accessible, healthy, purified water available in your most frequent places, such as work and home, is the first step in drinking more water. Artesian Bottleless Water offers delicious, chemical-free water, always on tap, and we would love to install a unit in your space for a free trial! Contact the location nearest to you for more information.

Photo Credit:  Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash