How to Drink More Water Every Day Without Thinking About It

Most people who drink too little do not lack willpower. They lack a moment in the day when drinking happens on its own.

This guide gives you those moments. If you do not know your daily number yet, start with how much water you should drink a day, then come back here to turn it into glasses.

How Can I Drink More Water Every Day?

Drink small amounts all day instead of a lot at once, and have a drink with every meal. Harvard Health puts it simply: "drink fluids gradually, throughout the day." Keep a filled bottle where you can see it, because the bottle in front of you is the one you drink from.

Meals do more of the work than most people expect. The US National Academies found that thirst plus "the habitual consumption of beverages at meals" keeps the average person hydrated.

So the plan has two parts. You drink at each meal, and you add two or three drinks between meals; the best time to drink water covers which moments matter most, and how often to drink water shows the pace on busy and hot days.

How Do I Make Drinking Water a Habit?

Tie each drink to something you already do every day: waking up, sitting down to eat, opening your laptop, getting home from work or school. The CDC gives the shortest version: "Carry a water bottle. Drink and refill it throughout the day."

A cue you meet every day carries the water for you.

Pick three or four of the cues below, not all of them.

Morning

• Drink a glass of water while the kettle boils or the coffee brews.
• Keep a filled bottle where you put your keys, so it leaves the house with you.

At Work or School

Fill your bottle when you sit down and again when you come back from lunch. Two fills of a 500 ml (16.9 oz) bottle make a full litre before the evening.

Keep the bottle in your line of sight, not in your bag. A few sips at the start of every call or class turn the meeting link into your cue.

The 3 PM Slump

This is the hour when most people stop drinking. Have a glass before you reach for a snack, then decide if you still want the snack.

Evening

Have a glass when you get home, before you sit down. Then let the evening taper off; drinking water before bed explains when to stop if you wake up at night to pee.

What a Day of Cues Adds Up To

Maya weighs 70 kg (154 lb), walks to work and lives somewhere mild. Glubbo's habit formula gives her a goal of 2,050 ml (69 oz) of drinks a day, and six cues cover it.

Nothing in her day is a new task. Her coffee is on the list because coffee counts toward your water like other drinks.

What Are the Benefits of Drinking Enough Water?

Enough fluid keeps you from getting dehydrated, and dehydration shows up fast. The NHS lists feeling thirsty, feeling tired, a headache, feeling dizzy and dark, strong-smelling pee among its signs. Drinking more is also the main thing you can do against kidney stones.

The NIDDK says it plainly: "Drinking enough liquid, mainly water, is the most important thing you can do to prevent kidney stones."

Make Water Easier to Like

Plain water is the best everyday drink, and it only helps if you drink it. These are the three questions people ask most once plain water starts to bore them.

How Can I Make Water Taste Better?

Try it ice cold, sparkling, or with a wedge of lime or lemon, one of the CDC's own tips. The CDC also suggests freezing water in freezer-safe bottles "for ice-cold water all day". If you like squash or cordial, the NHS says to dilute it well to cut the sugar.

Cucumber, mint or a few berries in a jug are worth a try too. That tip comes from kitchens, not studies: you drink more of what you like.

Should I Replace Soda With Water?

Yes, if your soda has sugar in it. The CDC sums it up: "Water has no calories, so replacing sugary drinks with plain water can help reduce caloric intake." The NHS also advises swapping to diet, sugar-free or no-added-sugar drinks, and keeping fruit juice and smoothies to one small 150 ml (5 oz) glass a day.

Milk, tea and sparkling water all add to your fluids. Our guide to which drinks count toward your water intake goes through them one by one.

Do Water-Rich Foods Help?

Yes: salads, fruit and soup bring water with them, so on a day when you eat plenty of them, your glass has less to do. Harvard Health notes that "you also get fluids from water-rich foods, such as salads, fruit, and applesauce."

Some fruit and vegetables are mostly water by weight; the list of foods with the most water gives the numbers.

Do Water Reminder Apps Help You Drink More?

Reminders help on the days your habits slip: travel, long meetings, a shift with no breaks. We found no controlled study that measures how much more people drink with a reminder app, so we make no claim about it. What a reminder does is speak up when a busy day makes you ignore thirst.

A good reminder fits your day instead of pinging on the hour. The Glubbo app has three styles.

All three go quiet once you reach the day's goal. If you would rather set your own alarms, the free water drinking schedule turns your goal into a list of times.

How Can Older Adults Drink Enough if They Rarely Feel Thirsty?

Drink on a routine instead of waiting for thirst. "Older people don't sense thirst as much as they did when they were younger," Harvard Health notes, and it suggests a drink at each meal, socially and with medicine. In hot weather, the CDC tells adults over 65 to drink more than usual and not wait until they are thirsty.

A routine works best when it rides on things that happen anyway: the morning pills, each meal, the afternoon news. Put a glass beside each of them.

When Should You Drink More Than Usual?

Drink more on hot days, during long stretches of activity and when you are ill. The NHS names a hot environment, being physically active for long periods and being ill or recovering among the times you may need more fluid.

For work in the heat, NIOSH suggests about 1 cup (8 oz) every 15 to 20 minutes during moderate work. Workouts have their own numbers, before, during and after; when to drink around exercise lists them.

How Do You Know It Is Working?

Look at your pee. The NHS check is a clear, pale yellow colour; dark yellow means you need more.

If a week of new habits changes nothing, check the arithmetic. The water intake calculator sets your goal, and bottles per day shows how many refills of your own bottle it takes.