Jill writes, "Work has become very stressful and I feel like I can never relax. Is it going to negatively impact my productivity?"

Chronic stress will damage your brain's memory circuits. When you're stressed the brain releases a stress hormone called "cortisol." Under normal circumstances, cortisol helps you to remember things. However, when your brain is under constant stress the effect reverses and your memory begins to short-circuit.

Make a point to calm yourself down when you feel you are under a lot of stress. Also be sure to challenge your brain by shocking it out of its normal patterns. This can be as simple as taking a new way to work.

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