7 Benefits Of Drinking Water At Work

Benefits Of Drinking Water At Work

You likely aren’t drinking enough water, but you knew that already. What you might not know is that it’s affecting your performance at work.   An average person spends 90,000 hours working in the office  Staying hydrated is likely the least of your worries when you’re working.  However, it’s affecting your performance and you may not realize it.   Did you know, that more than 10,000 people die in Japan because of dehydrated at the workplace? Japan has the longest working hours with people working up to 70 hours a week.

Only 30 percent of Americans drink the recommended 10 cups of water daily. Since they are so busy with work, employees don’t understand and identify signs of dehydration. It is only when they aren’t able to concentrate on work, head over to the cold water dispenser at the office and take a sip. Signs of dehydration include irritability, rapid heart rate, increased breathing, thirstiness, headaches, burning during urination, dry mouth, and tiredness.

The Top Benefits of Drinking Water At Work

Here are seven benefits of drinking water for your business:

1. Helps In Concentration

You are in the office for eight to nine hours. After the first couple of hours, you start feeling fatigued and unable to concentrate at work. That’s certainly because your brain isn’t receiving enough nutrients, which results in lack of concentration. Because of the decrease in blood volume, the nutrients are carried at a decreased rate. Drinking just half a glass of water will increase concentration levels in a couple of minutes.

2. Increases Energy Levels

The flow of nutrients decreases to all body parts, just like it does to your brain. Apart from being less alert, you feel lethargic and easily irritable. A change in the project will feel like the impossible task ever, ultimately decreasing productivity levels.

3. Helps You Stay On Track With Your Diet

You leave office after a long day at work and can’t think about anything else but a large pizza all to yourself. All your weight loss and non-fast food eating goals go down the drain. The stimuli for thirst and hunger are the same, so it is easy to get confused between the two. If you are feeling hungry, first drink a tall glass of water and wait for 10 minutes. If you still feel hungry, then grab something healthy or one slice of pizza.

4. Decreases Stress Levels

When you are dehydrated, your blood vessels constrict, which lead to increased stress levels. Chances of messing up the task than completing it are a lot higher. Also, water helps to flush out toxins, some of which are responsible for high stress. Sweet beverages like Sodas or so-called fruit juices can actually increase your stress after the sugar high wears off.

5. Natural Headache Remedy

Stress leads to headaches and migraines and the fastest way to get rid of them is not aspirin. If you get frequent headaches, it is probably because you are dehydrated all the time. The next time you get a headache, make sure if you drink a whole glass of water.  We won’t tell you to avoid the aspirin, but at least get hydrated.  You are doing a lot more harm to your body than you think you realize by not being hydrated. Dehydration is also the reason for cramps and sprains. Mix a pinch of salt with water and drink it up, the cramps will disappear immediately.

6. Better Mood

When your body is well-hydrated and healthy, you are more likely to feel better which, hopefully, will make you less irritable. Irritability is a common sign of dehydration and can easily put you in a bad mood. If you have had a lot of alcohol, mix unsweetened soda water with ice and lemon before going to bed to avoid a hangover. You can drink the same mix in the morning afterwards to immediately reduce any symptoms.

7. Money Saver

Water is a lot cheaper than flavored fruit or sports drinks, soda, or coffee.  Take two one liter bottles of water with you to work, and you don’t ever complain of lack of concentration ever again.

Here are some ways you can stay hydrated at work:

1. Hydration monitoring app

Download a hydration monitoring app that sends you reminders every 30 or 60 minutes for drinking water. Some good apps that you can download include Waterlogged, Daily Water, and iDrated. These apps also help you to calculate the exact number of glasses you need to drink daily.

2. High water containing foods

Consume green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, and watermelon on a daily basis. Actually, all fruit is full of water and can really flood your body with much-needed hydration (and nutrients).

3. Decrease tea and coffee consumption

Tea and coffee are diuretics, which cause in higher loss of water through urine. You knew this one was coming.  If you’re feeling cranky, it’s pretty easy to go for the cup of coffee, but you’re actually exacerbating the issue.  Instead, have your morning cup and then start a habit of making trips to water dispenser.   At Lipsey, we love nothing more than to refill our customer’s water tanks with our Office water delivery because we know that means they are staying hyrdrated!

Bottomline

All of these factors of dehydration negatively impact your work performance.  While work is rarely an athletic event, most achievers in athletics know that the key to performance is hydration.  This is no different in the workplace.   Drinking water might not help you get a promotion, but not drinking enough water certainly will stack the odds against you.