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Get It Done
1-2-3: The Forgotten Productivity Fuel That Most Professionals Ignore
sent by Joaquín Kosegarten | July 21, 2026
You track your sleep. You watch your caffeine. You maybe even count your steps.
But there is one simple input most professionals ignore entirely, and it quietly determines how sharp you feel all day.
The worst part?
You are probably running low right now.
1 Idea
Drink water before you drink coffee, and keep drinking it all day.
2 Ways it saves you time
1. Even a 1-2% drop in body water measurably slows attention, memory, and reaction time. Translation: simple tasks take longer, small decisions feel harder, and mistakes creep in. Staying hydrated is the cheapest way to avoid the mental fog that steals 20 to 40 minutes from almost every afternoon.
2. When you feel sluggish, reaching for coffee often treats the wrong problem. Dehydration feels a lot like low energy, so you spend 15 to 20 minutes waiting for caffeine to “kick in” that water would have solved in seconds. Worse, that same coffee wrecks tomorrow’s morning focus, costing you another hour of fog at the start of your day. Water fixes it now and protects tomorrow.
3 Steps to Get It Done:
1. Keep a filled glass or bottle of water on your desk before you even open your laptop. Visible water gets drunk. Hidden water doesn’t.
2. Drink a full glass of water before your first coffee of the day. Not instead of, just before. Every time.
3. Set one hydration cue. When you stand up from your desk, drink some water. When you end a meeting, drink some water. One trigger is all you need.
Conclusion
You cannot out-caffeinate a dehydrated brain.
The simplest productivity fuel on the planet costs nothing, takes seconds, and is sitting in every tap you walk past. Start leading with it today and watch how different your afternoons feel.
This is the kind of small shift the Energy step in Get It Done is built around: the tiny inputs your body needs to turn ordinary hours into your sharpest ones.
Thinking “I drink plenty of water, I’m fine”?
Most people who say this are running at a mild deficit without realising it. Thirst’s a late signal, not an early one. By the time you feel thirsty, your brain has already slowed down. Drinking before you feel the need to is how you stay ahead of the fog instead of catching up to it.
As promised — 1 minute that can save you hours
Yours in Getting It Done,
Joaquin Kosegarten
Author of Get It Done
Creator of the 1-2-3 Get It Done Newsletter
P.S. Fun Fact: The human brain is roughly 75% water, and even a small shift in hydration levels has outsized effects on performance. A 2012 study from the University of Connecticut found that mild dehydration in healthy young adults led to increased feelings of fatigue, lower mood, and noticeably worse concentration on cognitive tasks, all after losing just 1.5% of normal body water. That level of dehydration can happen in a few hours of focused desk work without a single sip. Your next glass of water might be the most productive thing you do today.
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The Forgotten Productivity Fuel That Most Professionals Ignore
About the Newsletter
1-2-3 Get It Done is a weekly 1-minute read trusted by busy professionals who want to achieve more in less time without burning out.
Each issue gives you 1 idea, 2 ways it saves you time, and 3 steps to put it into action immediately.