How to Build a Water Break Into a Busy Workday

Some afternoons, the glass you poured at nine is still sitting where you left it. There was time to drink it. There just wasn't a moment when you thought to reach for it.

An easier place to start is with something that already divides your day. When you close the laptop for lunch, fill a glass before you sit down. If you work away from a desk, try the first break when you can get to your bottle. The best cue is one you can recognize even on a day that runs late.

Pick a moment you already have

A group of researchers studying how habits form asked 96 volunteers to choose an eating, drinking or activity behavior and repeat it in the same context for 12 weeks. Participants reported how automatic the behavior felt over time. The pace varied, and the study relied on self-reports. It offers a useful idea for where to put a break; it didn't test whether a particular water routine improves hydration or focus. Read the original study.

Try looking at yesterday's schedule. What happened even when everything got moved around? Maybe you hung up your keys, packed away your lunch or reached the end of a recurring call. Pick one moment and make the water easy to reach then. If drinks aren't allowed at your workstation, choose a break or another place where you can actually stop.

Adjust the cue when the day changes

If you keep forgetting, look at what happens immediately after your cue. The end of a meeting sounds like a natural break, but it may be exactly when you have to answer the messages that piled up during it. Lunch may give you a better opening. Move the cue to a moment with a little room.

Think of the break as a reminder, not a serving size. The Journal's guide to the eight-glasses rule explains why there isn't one number of glasses for every day. If you miss your usual moment, use the next break that makes sense. For tomorrow, all you need to decide is when you'll put the glass within reach.