A simple habit to start drinking lots of water

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to start drinking water. I never drank water, because I felt it had no taste. When I drank something, it was usually Coca-Cola or some other unhealthy shit. I wanted to change this. So I developed a simple rule that turned out to be highly effective. I’m sharing my rule in case it helps anyone else.

My rule: There must always be a bottle of water on my desk. And this bottle of water can never, ever be empty. As soon as it’s empty, I have to get up to refill it.

I added another bottle of water on my nightstand near my bed, for which the same rule applies.

That’s it. That’s the rule.

Notice how the rule doesn’t say anything about having to drink the water. My rule allows me to go a year without even touching it. I’ve found that, in practice, it’s nearly impossible for anyone to have water within reach without sipping from it throughout the day.

Another helpful bit is that I always leave my water bottles open, as shown in the picture. I never put the cap on, because having to unscrew it each time to take a sip would be another small hurdle. Easy access is the key here.

The end result of this rule is that I now drink 2 to 3 liters of water every day. And I actually love drinking water now, unlike before. For someone like me (who still eats loads of junk food and doesn’t care much about health), my habit of drinking lots of water seems out of character. All thanks to this simple rule. I’ll still have a can of coke at times, but not nearly as often as before.