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I don’t know about you but my brain hurts. In three days last week I wrote 16,800 words, that’s about 430 words an hour in case you’re interested.

But we’ve still got a month until Christmas and as everyone knows the last mile is the hardest. So here’s an early Christmas present in the form of some brain-boosting tips from Dr Jenny Brockis, the author of Future Brain, a guide on how to boost brain fitness to increase productivity.

1.      Use your brain the way it is designed

Brockis says her first tip is to give your brain a break.

“Apply attention in the way it was designed, as a series of short, sharp sprints and then give your brain a break. Take a couple of 20-minute brain breaks across the day to spend on unfocused thinking. Get up for a stretch, grab a glass of water, or get outside for a few minutes,” she says.

This gives the brain time to reboot and re-energise ready for the next chunk of focused work. “It helps maintain cognitive stamina across the day and improves our ability to get to and stay asleep at night.”

– Alexandra Cain

Read more: Three tips to fire up your brain