lotodig- Just so you're more confident, I've re-booted my computer many times over the years using the technique I've described. Several times, for example, my cursor has frozen so I couldn't navigate to do anything, such as re-boot normally. I didn't always know why some problem was happening, but I did know that the power button re-boot would not make anything worse. Usually the only time you can have a problem is if you decide to do a re-boot/re-start of any kind in the middle of some major activity where you are making changes to the computer, such as installing updates or doing a defragmentation. However, in the other 99.9% of cases, all you're doing is cleaning out the RAM of some unexplained little problem and starting fresh.

One reason to time a specific task is to figure out how long it takes, so that you can plan you day a little bit better when that task is on the schedule or just needs to be done. Sometimes, we over-estimated how long something takes. Then we tend to avoid it, because we think we don't have time to do it. You may think washing the dishes after a typical dinner takes half an hour. If you time it, you may find out it only takes 10 or 15 minutes. I was startled to realize that I can vacuum every room in my house in 20-25 minutes. For some reason, I thought it would take much, much longer. (It's a small, one-story house, which helps.) I also time tasks by what I can do while waiting for water to boil. I have an electric kettle to boil water for tea. In the time it takes for water to boil for tea, I can several of these tasks: -empty the dishwasher -put random glasses/dishes in the dishwasher -empty the dish drainer -make a sandwich -wipe down the counters -wipe down the stovetop -tidy the island (which seems to be a clutter magnet) -sweep the kitchen floor -water the plants in the kitchen -inventory the pantry for an upcoming grocery run Most mornings, I stagger out of bed and put the water on for tea and, working on autopilot, empty the dishwasher and dish drainer. Then I have the satisfying feeling that one household chore is Done, first thing in the morning. Sets a good tone for the rest of the day. Another reason to time tasks is to see if you can reduce the time you spend on a given task. For example, in the OP, it takes Plow In 20 minutes to strip her bed and 30 minutes to re-make it with fresh linens. I agree with PPs that this is a fairly long time. It takes me about 3 minutes to strip the bed and about 10 minutes to re-make the bed with clean sheets (I'm impressed with LuAnn's 5 minutes to make a king-size bed.) So look at ways to reduce the time. If your bed is against a wall and you need to move it to change the sheets, that adds time. Can you rearrange the room to make it easier to change the sheets? Do you have tons of layers of sheets, blankets, and quilts on the bed? It's a fashionable look right now, but it takes time take all that off and find a place to put it, then to put it all back on again. I have just the fitted sheet, flat sheet, a blanket and a quilt/bedspread--they change throughout the seasons with the quilt being a down comforter all winter and the bedspread being an old linen tablecloth during the summer, but I've found that more than those 4 layers and making the bed become too much of a chore for me. Also, check out YouTube. There are a ton of how-to videos there--there are many on how to make a bed neatly and quickly. Another thing to do is to determine how neat/clean you want your house to be. If you are living alone and in complete control of the messiness or otherwise of the house, that's one thing. If there are other residents, including kids, that's more work--but it is not necessarily work that has to be done by you. Check out FlyLady for some ideas on how often chores need to be done. Apartment Therapy has some good ideas as well--I've linked to a post there that describes how to keep your house neat in 20 minutes a day. (I will admit that I've tried this schedule and some days took less than 20 minutes and some took more. It depends on the size of your house and how many people are messing it up. But it's a good place to start.) Here is a link that might be useful: 20 minutes a day to a clean house

Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different.

Thank you for your responses! Renovator: There are many projects. Some don't involve the kitchen. Those do not have a designer per say, though some of the kitchen people have commented on the mudroom since it adjoins the kitchen and involves changing the pantry. At least one of the contractors seem to be able to enhance what I want and can just have a carpenter build where needed. One clearly wants a design plan for all of the spaces. For something like coffered ceilings, I think we (us with the contractor, no designer) decide on the molding, # of boxes, and lighting. That job could be combined with changing chandeliers in the dining room and other rooms since an electrician would be needed (and it would be easier to group the tasks into one visit vs. being charged for multiple visits by an electrician. But I'm not sure when we will have the light fixtures picked out. However, if the kitchen is more expensive than expected the coffered ceiling project can be sacrificed. Refinishing the floors, painting and some minor bathroom reno can start before the kitchen reno. However, I am also interviewing a separate floor guy who came highly recommended and a separate painter I came across through another group. The office is the most vague project. I'm getting the impression that it will be too costly to do with the KDs. One person said that we should wait a few years and see what happens with elderly MIL (who will be staying in the downstairs office when she visits) which is partly why we need an upstairs office. I think this project might go to the local cabinet builder guy if his costs come in better, One person said just buy furniture. However, we have such a mish mash right now and really needed a lot more filing space and organization that I felt like we needed something more custom. The office is a sore point for us as we have papers everywhere and not enough places to put them. Trying to scan more but we need a better computer, more virtual storage, etc. and our current printer/scanner which is only a few years old isn't working that well. But I digress Greendesigns, so maybe what you are saying is that I decide on the contractor for phases of the entire work (which are discreet projects) and that the kitchen gets decided last, after I pick a designer? Or if the estimates for the kitchen contractor job are dramatically different, maybe I could narrow it down to finalists and then only ask two to fine tune estimates vs. four contractors? But I don't want to get caught short. I think two of the contractors are juggling things so I don't want it to turn out that they can't do my job once we set a timetable. Also, for something like changing light fixtures should I get a separate handyman or just tack it on to one of the other jobs that involves an electrician? Would a handyman charge less or would that be offset by a separate visit? Thank you both!