I have a bad habit of not drinking enough water. Of course hardly anyone makes the “8 cups a day” recommendation, but I sometimes go a whole day without any water at all (other than in my food)!

I first became concerned about this via Fitbit‘s water tracker. For a few days, I used this to encourage myself to drink more water, but soon returned to my old habits. Two weeks ago, I gave a Quantified Self SD talk about the Fitbit, which caused me to readdress my water intake concerns.

Alas, I found the solution! I simply switched the cup on the left for the cup on the right:

Larger cup, more water
Well, of course… but this decreases the annoyance of going to the break room to fill up more water while I’m busy working. I usually stop drinking when I finish the drink. The bigger cup encourages me to drink more.

Straw minimizes distraction
While a straw seems childish or too much like fast-food drinks, it’s actually much better for productivity. Drinking a mug requires more attention than drinking out of a straw. Multi-tasking becomes easier and hence it becomes natural.

I’m half way though my second large cup today. Hope this new habit sticks around.