For the entire month of February, I only drank water as a productivity experiment. I didn't have a caffeinated pre-workout drink to get ready for the gym, I didn't have afternoon tea, I didn't have red wine on Valentine's Day and I didn't have drinks on my girlfriend's birthday – the most wonderful thing I drank all month was a cup of hot water with a slice of lemon. (I'm definitely kicking myself for not choosing an easier month, but I guess hindsight is 20/20.)
To be honest, I didn't expect to learn much from this experiment, but looking back, I learned a ton. This article is long, but I know you'll get a lot out of it, and I've tried to make it as high-quality as possible so you can easily jump to the parts you're interested in.
Without further ado, here are the top 10 lessons I learned from drinking only water for an entire month!
- You drink a whopping 400 calories every day
If you're average, you drink a whopping 400 calories every day.
With a little basic arithmetic, it's not hard to calculate how drinking more water will help you lose weight. To lose a pound of fat, you need to burn (or be in a deficit of) about 3,500 calories, although this number varies depending on how fast your metabolism is and how much water and lean tissue you're burning while cutting calories. intake.2 This means that if you drink only water (or liquids that do not contain calories), in 9 days you will lose half a kilogram of fat. That's equivalent to the amount of calories your body burns running at 5 mph for 30 minutes every day for 9 days!
Losing weight is not easy, but drinking more water has to be one of the easiest ways to reduce the number of calories you consume.
- Know the eight triggers that motivate you to drink
I think one of the keys to changing your habits is to recognize what triggers your behavior. Taking a second to ask yourself why you want to drink something is the perfect incentive to get yourself to drink healthier.
There's always a reason why you drink what you do, and when you're drinking that much in a day, it's definitely worth considering whether that reason is productive or unproductive to your health. Personally, I can think of eight reasons why you drink (if you can think of others, sound off in the comments and I'll add them to the article!):
Socially (eg if you're at a party or drinking coffee with someone)
For energy (ie with caffeinated or sugary drinks)
For enjoyment (eg a cold beer after a long day at work)
For nutrition (e.g. drinking water for rehydration)
For health reasons (e.g. drinking protein shakes and fruit smoothies)
Because you are addicted (e.g. to drinks containing caffeine or sugar)
For pleasure (eg drinking a fancy bottle of red wine)
For relaxation (eg drinking a cup of herbal tea in the evening)
When you want to drink something that is unhealthy for you, chances are there is a substitute that it will reward you in the same way that is much better for your health.
- Caffeine boosts your athletic performance
Caffeine has been shown to significantly improve your athletic performance, with more than two-thirds of 20,000 Olympic athletes studied in one report having caffeine in their blood since the World Anti-Doping Agency removed it from its list of prohibited substances.
According to research, caffeine significantly improves your performance in both aerobic and weight training:
"Caffeine has been shown to increase the number of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstream, which allows people to run or pedal longer"4, significantly improving your endurance in sports like running and cycling.
In one study , weightlifters performed significantly more repetitions than placebo participants and "also reported feeling subjectively less fatigued throughout the bout and, in perhaps the most interesting finding, said they were eager to repeat the entire workout again soon"5
Although researchers haven't come to a conclusion on how much caffeine you should consume before exercise, I usually consume 100-150 mg of caffeine (in a pre-workout drink) about 15 minutes before I hit the gym. I definitely noticed that I had a lot less energy in the gym during this experiment.
- What you drink profoundly affects your energy
What you drink has a huge impact on how much energy you have. Caffeine boosts your energy levels, causing you to crash hours later. Sugary drinks do the same thing, but by raising blood sugar levels instead of inhibiting adenosine reuptake. Alcohol depresses your mood, and while it helps you become more creative, I'd vehemently argue that those effects are more than offset by how much focus you'll lose and how easily distracted you'll be.
During this experiment I was quite surprised at how stable my energy levels were after removing sugar, caffeine and alcohol from my diet. So much of becoming more productive is obvious in hindsight, and this lesson is definitely no exception to that rule.
What you drink profoundly affects how much energy you have. Especially when energy serves as the fuel you burn to be productive throughout the day, it's worth reducing your addiction to sweets, caffeine, and alcoholic beverages to regain control over how much energy you have throughout the day.
- Food also has a huge impact on your energy levels
Just like what you drink, what you eat has a huge impact on your energy levels. During this experiment, once I removed all caffeinated, sugary, and alcoholic beverages from my diet, I realized how much food affects my energy levels once I was able to isolate its effects.
Interestingly, during the experiment I identified several eating tactics that gave me significantly more energy to get things done.
Eat smaller portions, more often. I think the most effective way to get more energy from food is to eat smaller portions, more often. Think of your energy reserves as a fire that burns throughout the day. It's much easier to start a fire when you're tossing in a bunch of small pieces of wood often than when you're tossing in five large logs at once.
Stay away from processed, sugary foods that will spike your blood sugar and then make you to fall.
Slow the hell down. It takes your brain about 20 minutes to know when your body is full, so slow the hell down!6 If you eat too much at once, you'll spike your energy levels and then cause them to crash, destroying your focus and productivity later in the day. throughout the day.
Constantly ask yourself if you are hungry. During the experiment, I found that constantly asking myself if I was hungry short-circuited some urges to mindlessly overeat.
If you're serious about squeezing every last bit of productivity out of your daily routine, I think you should adopt these tactics as well.
- Coffee and tea are just as hydrating as water
When I was researching this article, this fact surprised me the most.
Caffeinated beverages like coffee and tea used to be considered dehydrating, but that myth has since been debunked; It turns out that "the diuretic effect [caused by caffeine] doesn't compensate for hydration."7 Alcohol still dehydrates you, and experts recommend "at least a one-to-one ratio with water," but you're high on caffeinated beverages, especially if you drink them on a regular basis.8
- Take time to be grateful for everything you have
There are certain elements in your life, like electricity and the Internet, that are so woven into your routines and habits that you may forget they exist until they are gone.
Drinking only water for a month was possible, but I definitely missed out on all the other drinks I often took for granted before the experiment began. It wasn't until I forced myself to remove them from my life that I regretted not being grateful for them when I consumed them every day.
Every night before I go to bed I remember three things I am grateful for. It might seem a little hippy-dippy on the surface, but forming a daily ritual of remembering three things you're grateful for actually trains your brain to become happier, because "you're holding a pattern of scanning the world not for the negative, but for the positive first." 9 In the last few months I have found that the habit works wonders in making me more grateful for all the good things I have in my life, including coffee and tea.
- Water as one of the best things ever
There are literally hundreds of benefits to drinking more water. In fact, I've often considered putting together a hefty article listing all the health benefits of water, and I still might.
Here are just a few of my favorite benefits, among hundreds, of drinking more water
Water boosts your metabolism. In fact, when you drink water first thing in the morning, it boosts your metabolism by a whopping 24% in 90 minutes!
Water helps you think. Your brain is made up of 75% water, so drinking more water gives your brain more fuel to operate.
You'll eat less because water acts as an appetite suppressant.
Water helps your body flush out toxins and eliminate waste products.
Water helps reduce the risk of many diseases and ailments, including bladder and colon cancer.
Water clears your complexion. I didn't think it was possible to get even more beautiful until I didn't drink water for a whole month. Within the first few weeks, my complexion completely cleared up and became more vibrant than ever. Water hydrates your skin, keeping it "fresh, soft, glowing and smooth." It also helps you get rid of wrinkles.
Water saves you money! I like to live frugally, and last month I spent a lot less money going to coffee shops, bars and other places when I only drank water. Drinking more water can save you a lot of money – try it and see.
- To become more productive, drink caffeine strategically, not habitually
If you need caffeine to be productive on a regular basis, you're probably doing something wrong.
The reason for this is simple: your body adjusts to how much caffeine you consume on a regular basis.11 This means that if you don't drink caffeine on a regular basis and then drink coffee, you'll feel really energized. But if you drink a cup of coffee every morning, your body gets used to that amount, and it becomes your new norm. To reach a comparably high caffeine level, you would have to consume two cups of coffee every morning, as your body will adjust to drinking just one.
Interestingly, I didn't experience any caffeine withdrawal symptoms during this experiment, I think for a simple reason: for the most part, I consume caffeine strategically, not habitually. I know I'm not the norm here – with 80-90% of North Americans consuming caffeine on a daily basis, I'd imagine most people consume that caffeine as part of their daily routine.12 But if you want to use caffeine to become more productive, it's worth it. to consume strategically; consuming caffeine before you need more focus and energy to complete important tasks.
For example, I usually drink tea or coffee:
Before going to the gym
Right before an important media interview or before giving a speech
When I want to focus on writing (like I am now)
Drinking caffeine strategically instead of habitually will help reduce addiction from the addictive substance and will allow you to be much more productive.
1. Caffeine increases your focus, but compromises your creativity
It's hard to summarize all the research on caffeine and productivity in a few paragraphs, but the connection is interesting.
At the end of the day, caffeine affects your productivity in two big ways: it boosts your focus and it compromises your creativity.
Caffeine increases your focus. Caffeine helps you focus on just a few things (instead of being distracted by every new thing that comes up); great for when you need to calm down and focus on one task.13
Caffeine compromises your creativity. To be as creative as possible, you need to give your mind time to wander. Because caffeine pushes you to direct your focus to several activities or tasks, it has less time to wander and think about alternative approaches to problems and step back from your work so you can see it from a higher perspective.14
I think two of the biggest contributors to your productivity are how well you can focus and how creative you are, as they help you work more efficiently and effectively.
The ability to focus helps you work more efficiently. Being able to manage your focus allows you to become more efficient at what you do, because being able to better manage your attention helps you give more of yourself to your work. As a simple example, if it takes you 4 hours to write a report when you focus 50% of your attention on it, it might take you an hour to write the same report when you give it 95% of your attention.
To be being creative helps you work more efficiently. I think the more creative you are, the smarter you work because you can identify the best things to work on at any given time. It helps you achieve more in less time. When you give your mind more space to wander, it tends to come up with some pretty intelligent solutions to problems.
The relationship between caffeine and productivity is definitely murky, but I think the best advice I can give you is this : if you need to be creative at work, try cutting back on caffeine to give your mind a chance to wander. But if increasing your focus will help you become more productive than increasing your creativity, keep drinking caffeine.
And at the same time, don't forget how wonderful water can be for you.
