How to Stay Hydrated at Work

Why Do You Need to Stay Hydrated at Work?

The importance of hydration is well known for general health and well-being, but did you know it can actually affect you and your employees' work?

Dehydration can affect your concentration and mood, which can affect your work. If you're dehydrated you can become groggy and irritable, which could reduce your output and even prevent successful collaborations. Whereas being hydrated can help you stay focused, reduce stress, and support creativity, all important for producing your best work and being a team player.

Find out more about why drinking water promotes productivity.

Tips for Staying Hydrated at Work

The most obvious thing you can do to stay hydrated at work is to simply consume enough water! But this is often easier said than done. Hydration often falls by the wayside if you're busy or caught up in your work. So here are some simple tips that can help you with keeping on top of your hydration levels:

1. Keep Water on Your Desk

Keeping a glass or bottle of water on your desk gives you a visual reminder to hydrate. It also makes it much easier to grab a regular sip, as you're not having to get up and leave what you're doing to get a drink. This can help to create a healthy habit of regularly sipping water throughout the day. Just make sure you refill your water as soon as it's empty, or at regular intervals. If you find refilling hard, why not add an alarm on your phone to remind you to refill?

2. Take Hydration Breaks

Even with water on your desk, you may find it hard to remember to stay hydrated. To combat this, schedule regular hydration breaks and remember to take them. Just take a few minutes to stop and sip some water, or even make a brew round. This is a great bit of self-care whilst work-ing too, as it'll give you time to sit back and refresh your mind, rather than staring at your screen for hours at a time. If you need to, set alarms to remind yourself to take these breaks.

3. Eat Hydrating Snacks

It's not just liquid intake that counts towards your hydration levels, the food you eat can also help. And healthy food tends to have higher water content than unhealthy snacks, so not only are you helping your hydration but your overall health too. Swap those crisps and biscuits for fruit and vegetables. Think high-water content foods like melons, cucumbers, strawberries, ap-ples and celery to help you to stay hydrated.

4. Avoid Processed Foods

Processed foods are not only not as healthy as fresh foods, but can also cause you to become dehydrated. Foods such as microwave meals tend to contain a lot of fat, sugar and salt, consum-ing a lot of these nutrients can speed up the process of dehydration. So opt for fresh and healthy lunch and snack choices to stay hydrated.

5. Have Soups and Stews for Lunch

For a high-water content lunch, try soups and stews. Not only are these hydrating, but you can easily make a batch of soup or stew at the start of the week, having all your lunches prepared. This will mean you not only have a hydrating lunch but one that is also packed full of vegetables and healthy foods.

6. Wear Light, Loose Clothing

Wearing light, loose clothing during the day will allow your skin to breathe, which means you sweat less. When you sweat less, you are losing less water, making it easier to stay hydrated. Alt-hough this is weather and season dependent, as you don't want to be too cold during the winter months, try to avoid dark, thick and tight-fitting clothing to help you to stay cooler and reduce water loss through sweating.

7. Don't Wait Until You're Thirsty to Drink

Feeling thirsty is actually a sign of dehydration, and one of the late signs! So don't allow yourself to get to this point. If you're feeling thirsty you haven't been drinking enough, so make sure you increase your intake or reach for a healthy, hydrating snack.

How to Encourage Workers to Stay Hydrated

If you're an employer, encouraging your employees to stay hydrated will not only improve their well-being but also their productivity. These are some ways you can encourage your staff to drink more water:

1. Have Water Dispensers

Although tap water is safe to drink in the UK, some people just don't like the taste or prefer colder water when they drink. Therefore, having water dispensers can cater to those that don't like tap water. There are a variety of benefits to having water dispensers in an office too, not just hydration for workers, for instance, they are also a sustainable way to supply water.

2. Supply Different Types of Water

Some people will find even filtered water boring, so if you supply different types of water, you are catering to a variety of needs. Sparkling water is just as hydrating as still, and some people prefer the feel and taste of sparkling. You can supply different types of water with dispensers and even taps, such as our sparkling water taps.

3. Make Sure Water is Accessible

Where you place water dispensers can greatly affect how often they are used. You don't want water to only be available in the kitchen if you want to encourage hydration. Make sure there are enough hydration stations for the number of workers you have and make sure they are in view. Simply seeing the water dispensers can remind people to hydrate. Also, ensure your dis-pensers, or taps can be reached by everyone. Don't forget about wheelchair users, for instance, when thinking about how to make water accessible.

Keeping Hydrated at Work

Keeping hydrated at work is vital not only for your productivity but your health. There are lots of steps you can take to improve your hydration habits in the office. Just simply having water to hand can make a big difference.

If you're an employer and want to encourage your employees to drink more, why not invest in some office water dispensers to keep your workforce hydrated?