Researchers at Harvard have studied the effects of financial stress and found that the "cognitive deficit" caused by money worries can translate into a drop of as many as 10 IQ points.

To understand the cognitive load that comes with financial stress, the researchers studied two dramatically different groups - shoppers at a mall in New Jersey and sugar cane farmers in rural India.

In the mall study, middle- to low-income shoppers were given IQ tests before and after being primed for a hypothetical financial setback.

For a real world example of how financial concerns can weigh on people's minds, the Harvard team studied Indian sugar cane farmers who get paid just once a year, after the annual harvest.

They gave them IQ tests the month before harvest when they were at their poorest and then the same tests a month later when they had received payment for a year's work.

In both studies, participants who felt under financial stress had slower response times, higher error rates and their IQ measured on average nine to 10 points lower than on the same test when they were under less stress. When you consider that normal IQ is somewhere between 90 and 110, increasing IQ by about 10 per cent by reducing financial stress is significant.

This is one of the reasons that financial disadvantage compounds. Stress about a lack of money can result in seemingly irrational, even counter-productive, decisions that make money issues worse.

Here are some ideas to relieve financial stress and increase the quality of your financial decisions, and as a result, your general intelligence:

Open your statements

Many of us dread opening financial-looking correspondence and prefer to avoid knowing what's inside.

However, this can actually rob us of the opportunity to see the progress we are making.

For example, small, regular contributions to super can really add up and annual statements can be a great signpost of financial advancement. Rather than letting financial paperwork build up, try to open, action and file it progressively to feel that in a practical sense you have your finances under control.

Automate your payments

The Harvard researchers found that the money stress participants felt was like a temporary mental bandwidth tax, rather than a permanent intellectual deficit.

They use the analogy of a computer that starts to process normal functions really slowly when a big file is being downloaded.

Our brains operate in a similar way, so anything that we can automate reduces cognitive burden and frees up mental energy for conscious decision-making.

Arrange bills and credit card payments to be made automatically, ideally on the same day that you get paid each month, so you know there are sufficient funds in your account. Not only does this reduce your manual workload, it reduces the probability of acute stress, such as late notices and phone calls from collection agencies.

Start a saving program, however small

Feeling like you are in control reduces stress. Even a few dollars a day can add up to a meaningful amount over the course of a year. Automate as much as possible, taking advantage of the higher interest rates available when you deposit additional amounts each month, or use online tools such as Acorns.

Practise gratitude

There is lots of research that being grateful for what we have, rather than focusing on what we are missing, delivers big psychological benefits.

Hugh van Cuylenburg has used his experiences volunteering as a teacher at an underprivileged school in the Himalayas to develop a systematic approach to harnessing the power of gratitude called the Resilience Project.

Van Cuylenburg has facilitated the program in more than 300 Australian schools and it is now being used by the NRL, AFL, Cricket and Netball Australia. The program demonstrates that regularly focusing on what we are thankful for, coupled with mindfulness and empathy, results in measurable reductions in anxiety, improved impulse control and better decision-making.

Most of us would like to be smarter and richer and a few simple actions within our control can help us achieve both.

Catherine Robson is the founder of financial planning practice Affinity Private. Follow her on Twitter @CatherineAtAff.