Welcome to the next post in my Boost health awareness mini-series, part of the Looking-Glass Translations productivity programme!

You know that you should be drinking at least two litres of water (eight glasses) a day.

But how often do you actually succeed? With so many hats to wear as business owners, the importance of a seemingly arbitrary ‘liquid intake’ can pale in comparison to all our actual work, so I’m sure that I’m not alone in admitting I can get by on a glass a day (or less!) between coffees.

The problem is that this is a problem.

Water is a vitally important tool in the productive translator‘s arsenal for showing up and staying present; here’s just seven things it can do for us:

1. Relaxation Your brain is 85% water, so you can only prevent dehydration headaches and reduce physical stress levels by drinking it.

2. Focus Thanks to its ability to relieve stress on your body, drinking can also help you to stay focused and concentrate during big projects.

3. Invigoration Water makes you feel energised, helps the blood transport oxygen and nutrients, and prevents your heart from straining to do its job.

4. Suppleness Drinking water also helps to prevent cramps and sprains by lubricating joints and making muscles more elastic – great news for people with a more sedentary lifestyle!

5. Nourishment Drinking water will improve circulation, rehydrate your body, and flush out skin impurities, helping you to really glow – even when you’ve been working overtime!

6. Regularity Water is great for digestion, will keep your tummy happy and reduce kidney stones.

7. Slimming Cold water will ramp up your metabolism and help you to lose weight (your body will work to warm up the water, burning calories in the process).

Given all the health benefits of drinking water, not drinking can only harm our productivity.

Any time saved by not getting up for a break and a glass of water is far outweighed by the extra concentration you’ll need to get anything done… and even then you’ll likely end up with a bad back.

So what to do if you’re a non-drinker?

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to re-train your thirst response with these five easy tips:

My drinking routine

As I mentioned above, I tend to completely forget to drink throughout the day, which isn’t good for getting work done. To combat this, I’ve established a sort of ‘drinking routine’ to help me get in the habit. It sounds ridiculous, but it really helps – and I’ve found that after a few days of sticking to the routine below, I regularly grab a drink without thinking:

The great thing about a drinking routine is that it kills two birds with one stone; first, you’ll feel healthier and be more productive, and second, it will encourage you to take regular micro-breaks, which is also great for helping you to get more done during your day!

Still need help? There’s an app for that!

Believe it or not, there’s actually a huge variety of apps that can help you get your drinking back on track. My personal favourite is Carbodroid, but you’ll find a great list of other drink reminder apps here.

Do you drink enough each day? How do you make sure? And have you experienced the benefits of drinking more water first-hand? Share your insights in the comments!

Go forth and conquer with more productive, healthy tips!

Check out the posts below for more tips to grow your business the healthy way:

• Healthy-eating for improved productivity: meal-time tips for foodie freelancers
• Stop sitting now! 3 easy ways to get fit while getting paid
• Productivity and the healthy freelancer: an interview with Sara Colombo
• Sleepy? Love coffee? Here’s how to get the best bang for your caffeinated buck
• Freelancer illness: when microbes attack