People think I’m smart. To be fair, there are (somewhat) decent reasons for this, like me having a PhD.

I am also not terribly industrious; I work in short, high-intensity bursts, and sometimes decide to stop working early. I try to be in bed by about 10pm, I can’t hack late nights, and I get up with the sun and not before it. You’re unlikely to see me joining the 4am club; I’d rather be in the nice cosy bed club and still fast asleep. Still, I have achieved things, not despite my lack of industriousness but perhaps because of it.

Here are four of my tips for trying to be temporarily smarter:

1. Do something unproductive.

Something I see very commonly is people trying desperately to eke out some more of that precious, precious productivity by doing busywork, slowly grinding themselves into disrepair like something out of one of Kafka’s short stories.

This doesn’t work. You can’t make yourself concentrate more by concentrating less and pretending to be busy. What you can do is reset your brain by getting away from something productivity-shaped, and ideally getting away from something screen-shaped. Even five minutes is enough, but your brain needs the break.

2. Eat some fruits and vegetables.

This is awkward news for people like me with textural sensitivities, but fruits and vegetables are actually good for you. They will make you feel happier and more energetic. If you cannot stand the texture, try blending them into a smoothie, which will still give you some of the nutritional goodness. Or have a delicious fruit snack.

3. Go for a walk.

This can be classified as a sub-activity of 1), doing something unproductive, but it involves physical activity and a change of scenery. Both of these things are good for a poor, overworked brain. I am almost always smarter after a quick pace.

The ancients even had a phrase for this: solvitur ambulando, “it is solved by walking.”

4. Take a nap.

Perhaps the most unproductive productivity hack of them all, sometimes you become wonderfully productive by sleeping.

Although scientists don’t know all the details of why we sleep, you need to sleep to help with learning and the formation of long-term memory. Sleeping also “cleans” metabolic waste from the central nervous system. Being sleep deprived has the same effects on your motor skills and cognitive performance as being drunk.

Would you get drunk to help you be productive? Probably not. Go to sleep. Go to sleep when you feel sleepy and try and get enough sleep to be well-rested.

None of these tips are terribly original, and unfortunately, almost all of them are hard to follow in daily life. That I can follow them at all is something of a privilege.

Unfortunately, though, I haven’t found anything better. Not even coffee, though coffee is amazing.

Take that nap.