Feel Better, Look Better, Live Better: 10 Tricks Guaranteed to Get You to Drink More Water

If I attempted to list all of the benefits of drinking plenty of water throughout the day, I think I’d wear out my keyboard. I can rattle off the top of the list for you, though: Staying well-hydrated gives you energy, promotes healthy weight and helps clear your complexion. Basically, drinking water just makes your life better in every way. So why is it so hard to stay on track?

Your recommended amount of water intake per day depends on lots of factors, but the age-old 8-by-8 advice (drink eight 8-ounce glasses per day) is still a pretty solid baseline. And as for how to fit those 64 ounces into your day? Here are ten ideas you should try…

Have a glass first thing in the morning. Leave it on the nightstand before bed, and don’t get out of bed in the morning until you’ve downed the whole thing.

Drink water with every other drink. This is great for days when you’re filling up on coffee, or cocktail evenings out with friends. Force yourself to drink a small glass of water before any drink of any other type.

Drink big before a meal. Lauren Conrad suggests this method on her blog. Her daily water goal is 3 liters, so she downs 1 liter of water before every meal.

Drink each time you take a bathroom break. As you get up from your desk or station, stop by the kitchen or break room for grab a glass of water.

Tie it to other events in your day. Make drinking a glass of water part of your morning makeup routine (it does help your skin!), or do it right after you brush your teeth each time.

Use your phone’s alarm. Set a series of timers on your smart phone with the label “hydration nudge.” Drink a glass each time it goes off.

Set an appointment on your calendar. If you’re the kind of person who jumps to attention when a meeting reminder pops up, use that to your advantage. Schedule three or four 5-minute meetings with yourself each day to rehydrate.

Mark a water bottle with times of day. Create your own time-based goals, and mark them onto the side of a reusable water bottle with dishwasher-safe markers. Drink down to the “10:00 AM” mark by 10 AM, and so on, until you hit the bottom of the bottle by noon. You can get custom bottles from Etsy, too, like the one above from Southern Draw Design.

Download a water reminder app. There are plenty of free and paid apps out on the market with different features and functions, so check your favorite app store to find one that works for you. I’ve heard great things about Daily Water Free for iOS and Hydrocoach for Android.

Try a smart water bottle. I love this product that started on Kickstarter, but will begin shipping for new orders in April: The HidrateSpark bottle (above, $59.95) partners with a dedicated app to track your water intake throughout the day. When you’re behind on your goal, the bottle itself will glow. Thermos makes a smart bottle, too, that connects to your Fitbit to sync your wellness goals across the board.

How do you fit drinking water into your daily routine?