4 Weird Ways I Trick Myself into Drinking More Water

We’ve all heard the rule that you need to drink 2L of water a day, more if you work out or drink caffeine. As a population we also generally suck at drinking even half that amount, which has led to every health website out there extolling the virtues of drinking water and the myriad of ways you can convince yourself to do so.

This post is not going to repeat what you’ve heard everyone else saying. You already know you should be drinking more water, and you already know a bunch of ways to make it more appetizing. If that advice was working you probably wouldn’t be here.

So if you’ve already used all the typical ideas like adding lemon juice and keeping a water bottle handy, try one of these 4 weird tricks.

1. Race yourself.

Everything is more fun as a competition, which is why runners innocently out for their morning 5k are constantly losing races they didn’t know they were in. Apply the same concept to water consumption, and suddenly you’re racing to see how much water you can drink by lunchtime (my current PB is 1.25L) or how soon in the day you can finish 2L (my PB is 2:36pm).  Of course drinking 2L of water in the morning and then nothing the rest of the day isn’t going to help you as much as as spreading it out over the day, so use this one within reason.  On your mark, get set…go!

2. Refuse to go to the bathroom until you finish your water bottle.

Missing those good old days when you could be a stubborn child and refuse to do things, just because? Relive those memories by stubbornly refusing to use the bathroom until you’ve finished your water bottle. You’ll be chugging that water like it’s a sugar-loaded Coke.

3. Write deadlines on your water bottle.

You might get some odd looks from coworkers who wonder why your water bottle has every hour written on the side in sharpie, and you might find yourself chugging that last 100mL every hour to stay on target…but dammit, you’ve got a schedule to keep! Just divide 2L into manageable chunks of time, and mark down times on the side of your water bottle. For bonus points, give handmade water bottles to coworkers as birthday gifts. Who’s laughing now?

4. Train yourself like a dog. Use treats.

Positive reinforcement isn’t just for dogs and children anymore. Make a rule that you have to drink 500mL before your morning coffee, or finish your water bottle before taking a morning break…or if you’re really serious, try my favourite: no chocolate unless I drink 1L by lunchtime. Chocolate creates a lot of incentive.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever tried?