You’ve blamed the mattress. You’ve blamed the manager, the open-floor-plan office, the fluorescent lighting, and the guy who microwaves fish in the break room. And still, every afternoon around 2 p.m., your brain turns to wet cement. But, ask yourself a question: when’s the last time you had a glass of water?

A new survey of 1,017 full-time U.S. workers by Waterboy found that well-hydrated employees clock 1.2 more productive hours per day than those who drink little to no water. That’s six extra hours of output per week. From water. The free stuff that comes out of the tap.

Only 36% of workers are actively making an effort to hydrate during the workday, while 26% are drinking more caffeine than water on any given Tuesday. This tracks with how most of us feel by Thursday.

Searches for ‘Tired at Work’ Are Up 243%. You Might Just Need to Drink Water.

The search numbers are telling. Google’s interest in “tired at work” is up 243% since 2021, “fatigue at work” is up 233%, and “brain fog” is up 74%. We are very diligently Googling our exhaustion and then doing absolutely nothing about it.

What makes it worse: 93% of workers report having easy access to water at work. Seventeen percent still skip it most of the day. The water is right there. Has been all along.

Forty-three percent of workers lost at least one full productive day last month to fatigue, headaches, or low energy. More than half have missed a deadline or underperformed on a task because of fatigue or poor focus. The least-hydrated workers, those drinking zero to one glass a day, are missing deadlines at a 63% clip, compared to 40% of people drinking eight or more glasses daily. No amount of cold brew is closing that gap.

Somewhat ironically, in-office workers are the least hydrated group—50% drink three glasses or fewer per day, compared with 42% of remote workers. All that real estate is dedicated to a water cooler, and nobody’s using it.

People who prioritize hydration are twice as likely to say they’re satisfied with their career growth. Whether that means water makes you better at your job or that driven people are just less likely to forget basic bodily functions remains unclear. The 23-point deadline gap, though, is not.

Hydration search interest peaks every January, then falls off a cliff. Same as gym memberships and every other resolution that survives roughly three weeks. The fix is boring. That’s probably why nobody’s doing it.