How to Use a Mason Jar as a Water Bottle (And Why You Should)
I'll be honest—I never set out to become "that person" with a mason jar full of water at my desk. It just sort of happened.
One day long ago, I reached for a clean glass and came up empty. The only thing in my cabinet was mason jars (to the great dismay of my husband). I filled it with water, took a few sips, and went about my day. By evening, I realized something weird: I'd actually finished it. And then filled it again and again.
No app reminders. No motivational quotes printed on the side. Just a simple glass jar that somehow made drinking water feel... easier.
Turns out, I'm not the only one who's stumbled into this habit. Author, podcaster, and motivational speaker Mel Robbins has her own mason jar ritual. In a Wall Street Journal article titled "How Mel Robbins Tricked Herself Into Drinking Less Coffee," she shared her surprisingly effective morning routine:
"I put a big Mason jar in front of a coffee maker before I go to bed—I use that as a visual cue to delay coffee for an hour and drink water first. That one habit change, I kid you not, got me to change from a person that was having three to four cups of coffee a day to drinking water. I don't even think about coffee until like 11 a.m."
So what is it about mason jars that makes them work so well as water bottles? After using one daily for years now, I've figured out a few things.
Why Mason Jars Work for Hydration
Visibility is Everything
Unlike opaque bottles or thermoses, mason jars are completely transparent. You can see exactly how much water you've consumed (or haven't consumed). There's no lying to yourself, no "I think I drank most of it." The evidence is right there, crystal clear.
The Visual Cue Advantage
Robbins used her mason jar as what behavioral scientists call an "implementation intention"—a specific plan for where and when you'll perform a behavior. By placing the jar in front of her coffee maker the night before, she created an unavoidable prompt. The jar became her morning gatekeeper, a gentle reminder of the habit she wanted to build.
Accessible and Affordable
You don't need to invest in an expensive smart bottle that syncs with your phone and judges your hydration levels. A pack of mason jars costs less than $10, and chances are you already own a few. They're dishwasher safe, they don't harbor weird smells like plastic can, and if you break one, it's no great loss.
The Right Size for the Job
Standard quart-sized mason jars hold 32 ounces of water—a perfect benchmark amount. Drink two of these throughout the day, and you've hit the often-recommended 64 ounces. It's tangible math that doesn't require an app to track.
How to Make the Mason Jar Habit Stick
1. Prep the Night Before
Take a page from Mel Robbins' playbook. Fill your mason jar before bed and place it somewhere strategic—in front of the coffee maker, on your nightstand, next to your toothbrush. Make it impossible to ignore.
2. Start Your Day with Water
Before you reach for coffee, tea, or scroll through your phone, drink that water. Your body has gone 6-8 hours without hydration. That mason jar is your morning reset button.
3. Make It Easy to Refill
Keep your mason jar at your desk, in your car's cup holder, or wherever you spend most of your time. The harder you make it to refill, the less likely you'll do it.
4. Add Some Personality
While the basic mason jar works perfectly, you can customize yours with a reusable straw, a leak-proof lid (like the reCAP POUR lids) or even time markers written in dry-erase marker if that motivates you. But remember: simple is the point. Don't let perfection prevent you from starting.
The Ripple Effect
What's remarkable about Robbins' story isn't just that she drinks more water now—it's that one small change created a cascade of better choices. By delaying her coffee and drinking water first, she naturally reduced her caffeine intake, which likely improved her sleep, which gave her more energy, which made healthy choices easier.
That's the magic of a keystone habit. You're not just changing one behavior; you're creating a foundation that supports dozens of other positive changes.
Your Turn
You don't need to overhaul your entire life to drink more water. You don't need a complicated system or an expensive solution. Sometimes, the most powerful changes come from the simplest tools.
Tonight, before you go to bed, fill a mason jar with water. Place it where you'll see it first thing in the morning. And tomorrow, before you do anything else, drink it.
It's just a glass jar. But it might be exactly the small change that creates a big difference.
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