Random Life Hack: Hydration
I watched a TikTok video the other day where a girl offered tips on how to drink more water throughout the day. She said that she makes her water into "spa water." I guess the spa she goes to puts their water in Mason Jars and adds cucumbers, lemons, and mint. She had her Mason Jar filled with ice, thinly sliced lemons, and a glass straw. She said that it made her want to drink her water.
After watching her video, I thought I should try something like this. I struggle to drink enough non-caffeinated beverages each day. In fact, I often forget to eat and I will go from early morning to almost 2pm not eating. I get so caught up in what I am doing that I forget the time and my body reminds me that I need to eat and drink something. I mean I always have my cup of coffee and then I get a Diet Pepsi. What can I say, I like carbonated sugary beverages. They're not the best but I like them. Anyway, I usually have a Hydro-flask bottle filled with water that I drink thought the day but I put it on the floor where I forget its existence. The bottle is bulky and tall so it gets in the a way a bit. I also have to make an effort to screw the top on and off. It doesn't seem like it should take effort but when I am in a flow state, I don't really want to stop to twist a cap. I want something like my cup of coffee where I can just pick it up, put to my lips, and drink. I never finish the Hydro-flask bottle and I am lucky if I get half-way through it.
I'm really not a fan of the wide use of Mason Jars but I thought I need to try something different. (I dated a guy who thought that using Mason Jars as cups was "ridiculously hipster" and I think his belief rubbed off on me just a tad bit.) I went online and found the Mason Jar seen in the picture. I thought "Oh, it's a good size to where I don't have to keep going to the fridge to refill. It's a wide-mouth one. It has a bamboo lid and it comes with a boba straw." Sold. I ordered it and it arrived in the following days.
Have I been drinking more water since using this cup? Short answer, yes. This cup is a good size- it's about thirty-two ounces. I like that there is a lid and the straw encourages big gulps of water. I put it on my desk where I can see it and I don't have to put much effort to drink. I don't know why having this cup makes me want to drink more water but it does. I don't really put anything in my water other than lemon and it doesn't feel like "fancy water" from a spa. It does look a little fancy but not too much. I think my subconscious is a bit bougie and wants to feel fancy.
This little change has made a big difference. I stopped and looked at why I wasn't drinking enough water. I mean it seems silly to look at a simple daily act, like drinking water, and analyze it like this. But I need to drink more water so I figured out what I could do to make sure I drink enough. Simply put, I reassessed the how of my water intake, made some changes, and it has made a difference.
I guess this can be applied to other things in life. If I am not doing certain thing, why am I not doing it? What is stopping me from doing this? I think it may help to break things down and just take a look at things. I mean looking at something simple like my water intake has changed how I stay hydrated. I now sit down and think about the "time-tax," additional time surrounding a main activity, I pay. Like when I go to the gym, I pay a time-tax of driving to the gym. Looking at that helps me look at new ways to streamline random things in my day-to-day activities.