Thirty-second tricks while waiting for healthcare.gov

I had “fun” over one of these past weekends working my way through healthcare.gov. Since I quickly found that clicking from question to question was giving me about 30 seconds of waiting, I decided to find activities that fit.

After toting up my work mileage for the tax year, I turned to:

Checking for software updates, Windows Update for Windows or Software Update for Macs. Not to forget Adobe products like Reader and Flash, also make sure all web browsers are up-to-date.

Changing passwords after reading “studies suggest red-haired women tend to choose the best passwords and men with bushy beards or unkempt hair, the worst.” This means using different passwords for each site and keeping track of them with something like LastPass. Yes, this took more than one 30 second cycle, but I was already at the computer.

Turning over my keyboard and laptop to gently tap out dust and crumbs, also blowing out the air intakes and exhaust areas. Then wiping off the screen with a lint free cloth.

Emptying my email trash, my computer trash, even my office trash.

Updating my emergency list of all my accounts, logins and passwords, in case I am incapacitated or something worse.

Checked my Facebook privacy settings, oops, that took longer than 30 seconds.

Looked for 30-second exercises, found one called the Thoracic Bridge. But for some of us, just getting up and looking out the window for 30 seconds would be easier and maybe even better.

Made sure my backups are working by looking for something recent on the backup drive and on the online service.

Looked at one of those ergonomic posture pictures and realized that I am breaking all most all the rules because I am using a laptop. Decided that I should start with a monitor to plug into my laptop, one that would get me raising my head up more. That, or look away every few minutes to avoid locking my neck at one position.

Unplugged my laptop and used it long enough to run down the battery below half. Something I have to do once a month to get better battery life. OK, that did not take 30 seconds but still it fit between questions on healthcare.gov.

I am sure there are many more 30 second tricks, the goal being able to be patient, not only with healthcare.gov but with those times that the computer just wants to take longer to finish something and no amount of double-clicking will speed it up.