Ditch the caffeine and energy drinks, grab a glass of water instead. Yes, you read that right, don’t reach out for the typical beverages to get your mind and body going again. Rather than masking the symptoms of what you’re feeling, why not address the cause? When you’re feeling the afternoon slump at the office, or you ran out of creative juices, perhaps you’re a little cranky or you are simply in a mental fog, then the culprit could be dehydration.
Did you know, if you are just 2% dehydrated, it affects your overall productivity by as much as 24%? Drinking caffeinated beverages like espresso, energy drinks or coffee will actually make things worse. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning, it will cause a person to expel water and salts in the form of urine. This becomes a vicious cycle where a person will feel tired and slow again within the next hour or two. In turn, they repeat the process with more coffee or energy drinks.
Let’s look at it this way, human brains are made of 75% water, then that means it needs water to function properly, right? So if you’re dehydrated, the brain can’t work at 100%, which leaves you feeling all the symptoms mentioned above. Another perspective is to look at how hangovers feel the next morning. Since alcohol, much like caffeine is a diuretic, a person will experience the same symptoms like dehydration, but at a much higher degree.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That couldn’t be any truer when it comes to hydration. It really does take just a few ounces of water at a time to stay hydrated. In a recent article that was published in our blog, we went into detail on how keeping employees hydrated with a reverse osmosis water system could boost productivity.
“If an office department has 4 employees working, and each is 3%-4% dehydrated, then the workplace is really only getting the productivity level of a total of 2 people since each person’s effectiveness in their roles have dropped by as much as 50%. Imagine if the entire company staff were dehydrated, then nothing would get done.“ Read more HERE
With that in mind, here are a few suggestions regarding hydration, how to manage daily situations, and to keep your mind and body sharp:
- Bring a water bottle everywhere.
- Hydrate before going to work, drink water during meetings.
- When big decisions are needed, make sure you’re hydrated to keep your mind sharp.
- Before purchasing a car at a dealership, make sure you drink plenty of water. You need to stay sharp during the whole process.
- Drink at least 1 glass of water before doing homework.
- If you plan on going to the gym after work, drink at least 1 glass of water to help keep your brain hydrated, which will keep you motivated to go.
- If you plan on drinking alcohol, have your drink in one hand and water in the other. Chase each sip of alcohol with some water. This will help keep a hangover away.
Now that you know what could be causing you to feel slow, drained, and uncreative, you can actually address just by drinking more water. Being dehydrated can have some adverse effects on your daily duties at work, your decision-making process, and your mood. Hopefully, the tips provided can help you fight off the symptoms and keep your mind sharp and your body performing at its peak.
