The hour in the late afternoon that vexes me the most is 4 o’clock. It’s the time when coffee wears off, when I would be better served taking a walk, and when I’m most vulnerable to candy bars.

So lately I’ve been trying a new strategy. At the end of each day I review the list of things I thought were important the previous day. These might be project related tasks, program notions, or just thoughts that I needed to capture in Evernote.

For 30 minutes at the end of the day, I tackle one or two or three items on that list. My goal is to make the least productive hour of my day more productive. I can usually make good progress on at least one item or get a better idea for what I need to think about later or tomorrow.

Keeping this list in Evernote allows me to see which items haven’t moved from day to day and which things stay above the line and remain important. Is this a foolproof system? Nope? But it does give me momentum at the end of the day and keeps me watching my short term and long term goals. What do you do to refocus at 4pm?