So the summer is over, Autumn is slowly creeping its way in and we`re only 100 days away from Christmas!

If you`ve been fortunate enough to take some time over the summer months it may have been a bit of a shock to the system when the alarm went off this morning (we know it was for us!).

Whilst you still may be craving the lazy days of summer it`s time to get back into the swing of things and smash through your working day. Easier said than done, right? Well we`re here to help. We`ve scoured the internet and found some of the top productivity tips to help you gently back into work mode.

1. The Pomodoro Technique http://pomodorotechnique.com/
We love this little tip. It breaks your activities down into 25 minute chunks of time, with a handy little timer to keep you on track. Rather than working against time, you work with it and take regular 5 minutes breaks, building up throughout the day until you can reward yourself with a longer break. The process eliminates burnout, manages distractions and keeps you focused instead of procrastinating.

2. Sanebox https://www.sanebox.com/
Is your email inbox overcrowded with emails that have little or even no relevance to you? Then try Sanebox. It monitors spam, allows you to set follow up reminders for emails that you haven’t had a reply to and can send you a summary of your activity. Perfect for busy executive with better things to do!

3. Getting Things Done http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/
This has been around for a while but still worth a look. It was developed by David Allen and is now available as a book, an app and you can even take courses. It works on the very simple process of only touching a piece of work once, then finding the right place in your workload for it to sit. It does work but takes a lot of practice to get it right.

4. Slack https://slack.com/
The ultimate team communications tool, less emails between team members means a more productive team. It allows team to divide up message boards by teams, tasks, locations, whatever you need. It also has a great feature that allows you to integrate notifications from other apps and programs, so it can really become the communication hub of your team.

5. Write a to-do list 
Simple but underestimated. The Ivy Lee Method, developed in the 1900’s by successful entrepreneur Ivy Lee is simple so highly effective.

1. At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks.
2. Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance.
3. When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task.
4. Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day.
5. Repeat this process every working day.

Try it and see how you get on. You can tweet us @wakeoffices and let us know if any of these work you.