Tips to Drink More Water Throughout the Day (Habits That Actually Stick)

If you want to drink more water but keep forgetting (or you’re just not that excited about plain water), you’re not alone. The good news is that a few small tweaks to your daily routines and systems can have a massive impact on your hydration! Once you set up a few simple cues and make water easier to reach for, you can sit back and watch your daily water intake climb. 

Below are a few practical, realistic ways to increase water consumption throughout the day, especially if you’re juggling work, workouts, errands, and a busy social calendar.

This is one of the easiest ways to drink more water because you are not building a brand-new habit from scratch. Instead, you are “stacking” hydration onto routines that already happen every day, which makes it far more likely to stick. The key is consistency, not perfection: a few sips repeated five to ten times a day is often more effective than trying to chug a large amount once or twice.

To drink more water with less effort, pick 3 to 5 routines you already do on autopilot and make them your hydration cues. Keep it simple at first: take 3 to 5 sips, or finish a small glass, and move on. Over time, these cues become automatic, and you will drink more water without needing reminders, tracking apps, or extra mental energy. If you want to make it even easier, keep your bottle in the exact place the routine happens (bathroom counter, desk, car cup holder, kitchen counter), so the cue and the water are always together.

Try pairing a full glass or even a few sips with:

• Brushing your teeth (before and after)
• Logging onto your computer (first thing, and after lunch)
• Making your morning coffee (sip while it brews)
• Getting into the car (before you start driving)
• Sitting down to eat (a few sips before the first bite)

If you want a simple “starter plan” to drink more water right away, choose just three anchors for the next week: morning (teeth), midday (lunch), and afternoon (back at your desk or getting into the car). Once those feel automatic, add one or two more.

If your bottle is awkward, heavy, or prone to leaking, you will “forget” it constantly, even with the best intentions. When carrying it feels annoying, or using it requires two hands and extra steps, you end up taking fewer sips and it becomes harder to drink more water consistently. In practice, the bottle becomes one more thing to manage, and anything that feels inconvenient gets deprioritized when you are busy. The best everyday bottle is the one that fits your routine with minimal effort: easy to grab on the way out the door, comfortable to hold during commutes or errands, and simple to drink from without stopping what you are doing.

It also helps to think about the micro-moments where you could sip, but do not. If your lid is annoying, you will skip those moments. If the bottle is too bulky for your bag, you will leave it behind. If it leaks, you will stop trusting it and it will live on the counter at home instead of going with you. Fix those friction points and you will drink more water almost automatically because the bottle is actually present and usable when the opportunity to sip shows up, and you will drink more water in the exact moments that usually slip by.

A strong default for most people is a mid-size insulated bottle that is genuinely portable and versatile. It should move with you from desk to car to gym, fit easily in a bag, and keep your water cold long enough that you actually want to keep sipping. When the bottle is convenient and pleasant to use, you naturally drink more water because the friction disappears and hydration becomes the path of least resistance. Over time, that convenience compounds, and you drink more water simply because it is easier to take the next sip than to ignore it, which is exactly what makes the habit stick. For example, the KAMLOOPS insulated chug lid water bottle is designed to be portable and convenient for all-day use:

You will drink more water if your water is constantly in view. Out of sight is out of mind, and hydration is no different. If your bottle is buried in your bag, tucked behind your laptop, or sitting across the room, you will forget it, not because you lack discipline, but because the cue is missing. The goal is to make water the easiest option in your environment so you can drink more water without having to “remember” all day.

Simple upgrades:

• Keep your bottle on the same side as your dominant hand so it is effortless to grab and sip.
• Keep a glass next to the sink so it is ready the moment you walk into the kitchen.
• Keep a second bottle in your car or work bag so you are never starting from zero when you leave the house.

If you notice you drink more water when it feels “mindless,” a straw lid can be a genuine game-changer. It reduces friction in a way that is hard to appreciate until you try it: you do not have to twist a cap, tilt a bottle, or pause what you are doing to take a drink. That matters because most of the day is already multitasking, and every extra step is one more reason to skip a sip. With a straw lid, you can sip while reading, working, driving, walking, or scrolling, and those small sips compound quickly. For many people, this is the difference between “I meant to hydrate” and actually being able to drink more water consistently.

A simple way to use this is to keep the straw bottle within arm’s reach and attach sipping to micro-moments you already repeat: when you switch tasks, finish a paragraph, send a message, or stand up from your desk. You are essentially turning hydration into a background habit rather than another item on your to-do list. If you want an easy place to start, the ALPINE Flip n' Sip bottle or the ASPEN tumbler are strong all-day options.

If plain water feels boring, you can make it more enjoyable and still keep it low in sugar so you naturally drink more water throughout the day. The goal is to add just enough flavor to make water appealing without turning it into a sweet drink habit. A little variety also helps on days when you are busy, stressed, or craving something “interesting” to sip.

Ideas:

• Lemon, lime, or orange slices
• Cucumber and mint
• Frozen berries
• A small splash of 100 percent juice
• Unsweetened electrolyte tablets for workouts or heavy sweating

If you are using fruit, prep a few combinations the night before so it's effortless to drink more water the next day. Looking for some inspo? We have got you covered.

Refilling sounds like a small thing, but it is a real barrier. Every refill is another interruption where you can get distracted, forget, or decide it is “not worth it right now.” If your day is already packed, those tiny breaks in momentum are exactly where hydration falls apart. A bigger bottle removes many of those friction points, which is why it can be one of the fastest, simplest ways to drink more water and increase your daily intake without adding another habit to manage.It also reduces decision fatigue. When you are busy, you do not want to keep doing the mental math of “How much have I had?” A larger bottle gives you a clear, visible target: finish it by a certain time, then you know you are on track. That clarity makes it easier to drink more water consistently because you are not relying on memory or guesswork, and it helps you drink more water even on days when you are distracted.

A few practical ways to make a bigger bottle work for you:

• Use time-based checkpoints: aim to be halfway by lunch and finished by late afternoon.
• Keep it where you already are: desk, kitchen counter, car cup holder, or next to your workout gear.
• Pair it with a straw lid if you like sipping: bigger volume plus easy sipping is a strong combination for consistency.

If you like a bigger option with a straw, the 40oz ASPEN tumbler can support higher daily intake with fewer refills:

If you’re active, hydration is not just about total water. It’s also about timing, consistency, and replacing what you actually lose. A lot of people try to “catch up” on hydration after a workout, but that often backfires. You either forget once you’re busy again, or you drink a large amount at once and feel bloated. A simple pre, during, and post routine is easier to follow, helps you drink more water steadily, and usually feels better.

• Before you leave (15 to 30 minutes before): Drink a few steady sips, or finish a small glass of water. If you’re heading into a hot class or a longer run, aim to start already hydrated, not thirsty.

• During your workout or walk: For short sessions, a few sips is enough. For longer sessions, sip consistently rather than waiting until you feel parched.

• After (within 30 minutes): Drink again, then keep sipping casually as you cool down and get back to your day.

Reminders can absolutely help you drink more water, but only if they are specific and tied to your real life. If you set a generic “drink water” alert every hour, your brain learns to ignore it the same way it ignores a random marketing notification, and you end up not actually drink more water.

Instead, use reminders that match when you naturally forget to drink. For a lot of women, that is when you are deep in focus at work, running between appointments, or hitting that mid-afternoon slump, so a well-timed prompt can help you drink more water when it matters most.

• Use 2 to 4 “high-impact” reminders: A reminder at 10:30 and 2:30 is often more effective than constant buzzing.

• Tie reminders to transitions: Set one for when you start work, one right before lunch, and one when you’re about to leave for the day.

• Use location-based cues if you can: For example, a reminder that triggers when you arrive at work or the gym is harder to ignore because it matches the moment.

• Make the reminder actionable: Instead of “Drink water,” try “Take 8 sips now” or “Finish 25 percent of your bottle before your next meeting.”

1. 9:15: Drink water after you open your laptop

2. 11:00: Finish 25 percent of your bottle

3. 2:30: Refill or finish 50 to 75 percent

4. 5:30: A few sips before you commute or start dinner

If you prefer a visual approach, a bottle with time markers can also work well because it acts like a reminder that’s already in your line of sight.

If you want to drink more water throughout the day, it is less about willpower and more about reducing friction and creating clear cues. Start by choosing a bottle style and size that genuinely fits how you move through your day, whether that means something that stays on your desk, fits in a cup holder, or is easy to carry between meetings. Keep water within arm’s reach as often as possible, and remove small barriers like an empty bottle, a hard-to-clean lid, or having to refill too frequently. When the setup is effortless, you naturally drink more water because it becomes the easiest option available, and you are far more likely to drink more water even on busy days.

Once you have removed the common points of friction from your routine, tie hydration to the small, repetitive things you already do all day. Take a few sips right after you wake up, after each coffee or tea, when you sit down to work, and before meals. These small, repeatable hydration moments add up quickly and make consistency feel effortless. If you want an extra nudge, set a simple target like finishing one bottle by lunch and another by late afternoon, or use time-based checkpoints to keep yourself on pace. Within a week, the pattern usually starts to feel automatic because the cues and convenience do the work for you, and you drink more water without having to think about it.