Until two weeks ago, I didn’t drink enough water.

Who does?

Well, all of a sudden, I do. Here’s what happened.

I recently mentioned to my doctor that I often feel like I need to clear my throat. To my surprise, he asked me how much water I drink. Not enough, I told him. He told me that dehydration could be the culprit, and that I should try drinking 60-80 oz. of water a day. I resolved to give it a shot.

Like most of us, I’ve tried to start drinking more water many times before, to no avail. So how could I finally turn my good intentions into action? I turned to the internet.

A quick web search turned up a great Wirecutter article on this very subject. In short, the author discovered that when she carried around a tumbler with a straw instead of a water bottle with a screw-off lid, she drank twice as much water.

In other words, cutting out a single step—unscrewing a plastic lid—made a massive difference in her results. I was intrigued.

I went to the kitchen to retrieve my old stainless steel Klean Kanteen from the high shelf where it had languished for years. Then, I ordered a matching sippy lid from Amazon.

Friend, I’m now mindlessly consuming the recommended 80 oz. of water by late afternoon. It’s so easy—I just keep my water bottle on my desk at work and drink from it all day. I don’t even notice—I’m just constantly drinking water. And my throat feels so much better.

There’s a familiar lesson here for longtime readers of this blog: forget willpower.

To change your behavior, change your environment. Make the good habits easier and the bad habits harder.