6 ways to turn autumn into a time of peak productivity

Summer has ended, and despite a few pockets of warm weather, autumn is taking hold.

This transition period has traditionally meant a slower workload—until the realization hits you and your colleagues that there’s a lot to do by Dec. 31.

Here are six things you can do to kick it into high gear, keep pace and even get ahead:

1. Evaluate your professional and work goals. If you haven’t made serious strides in accomplishing the 2016 goals you’ve set for yourself, it’s crunch time. Evaluate what you wanted to accomplish at work and in your own professional development. Also, think through how you’re going to achieve these goals from now through December.

2. Start to plan for the rest of the year. The coming months will be particularly busy with the elections, evolving medical stories and the holiday season (which seems to sneak up out of nowhere). If you’re trying to get a story out there, it’ll be more crucial than ever to communicate it strategically. Start planning the timing for the initiatives you have to get through, and ask questions regarding which ones you can push back and which you’ll have to accelerate.