diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 48dffc2a7..5583d74d0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 development.log
 commands.log
+extra/lgit.rb
diff --git a/branches_panel.go b/branches_panel.go
index 75408f266..3ff79afda 100644
--- a/branches_panel.go
+++ b/branches_panel.go
@@ -1,18 +1,6 @@
-// lots of this has been directly ported from one of the example files, will brush up later
-
-// Copyright 2014 The gocui Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
 package main
 
 import (
-
-  // "io"
-  // "io/ioutil"
-
-  // "strings"
-
   "fmt"
 
   "github.com/jroimartin/gocui"
@@ -41,34 +29,36 @@ func getSelectedBranch(v *gocui.View) Branch {
   return state.Branches[lineNumber]
 }
 
+// may want to standardise how these select methods work
 func handleBranchSelect(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
   renderString(g, "options", "space: checkout, f: force checkout")
   if len(state.Branches) == 0 {
     return renderString(g, "main", "No branches for this repo")
   }
-  // may want to standardise how these select methods work
-  lineNumber := getItemPosition(v)
-  branch := state.Branches[lineNumber]
-  diff, _ := getBranchDiff(branch.Name, branch.BaseBranch)
-  if err := renderString(g, "main", diff); err != nil {
-    return err
-  }
+  go func() {
+    lineNumber := getItemPosition(v)
+    branch := state.Branches[lineNumber]
+    diff, _ := getBranchDiff(branch.Name, branch.BaseBranch)
+    renderString(g, "main", diff)
+  }()
   return nil
 }
 
 // refreshStatus is called at the end of this because that's when we can
 // be sure there is a state.Branches array to pick the current branch from
 func refreshBranches(g *gocui.Gui) error {
-  v, err := g.View("branches")
-  if err != nil {
-    panic(err)
-  }
-  state.Branches = getGitBranches()
-  v.Clear()
-  for _, branch := range state.Branches {
-    fmt.Fprintln(v, branch.DisplayString)
-  }
-  resetOrigin(v)
-  refreshStatus(g)
+  g.Update(func(g *gocui.Gui) error {
+    v, err := g.View("branches")
+    if err != nil {
+      panic(err)
+    }
+    state.Branches = getGitBranches()
+    v.Clear()
+    for _, branch := range state.Branches {
+      fmt.Fprintln(v, branch.DisplayString)
+    }
+    resetOrigin(v)
+    return refreshStatus(g)
+  })
   return nil
 }
diff --git a/commit_panel.go b/commit_panel.go
index b31bcb25a..a3d5d9b68 100644
--- a/commit_panel.go
+++ b/commit_panel.go
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-// lots of this has been directly ported from one of the example files, will brush up later
-
-// Copyright 2014 The gocui Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
 package main
 
 import (
@@ -13,7 +7,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 func handleCommitPress(g *gocui.Gui, currentView *gocui.View) error {
-  devLog(stagedFiles(state.GitFiles))
   if len(stagedFiles(state.GitFiles)) == 0 {
     return createSimpleConfirmationPanel(g, currentView, "Nothing to Commit", "There are no staged files to commit (esc)")
   }
@@ -40,7 +33,6 @@ func handleCommitSubmit(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
   // for whatever reason, a successful commit returns an error, so we're not
   // going to check for an error here
   if err := gitCommit(message); err != nil {
-    devLog(err)
     panic(err)
   }
   refreshFiles(g)
diff --git a/commits_panel.go b/commits_panel.go
index f1ca7fc99..ec7681b3a 100644
--- a/commits_panel.go
+++ b/commits_panel.go
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-// lots of this has been directly ported from one of the example files, will brush up later
-
-// Copyright 2014 The gocui Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
 package main
 
 import (
diff --git a/files_panel.go b/files_panel.go
index 7d64106e6..66d0acb34 100644
--- a/files_panel.go
+++ b/files_panel.go
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-// lots of this has been directly ported from one of the example files, will brush up later
-
-// Copyright 2014 The gocui Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
 package main
 
 import (
diff --git a/gitcommands.go b/gitcommands.go
index 640349569..3cadaa08f 100644
--- a/gitcommands.go
+++ b/gitcommands.go
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-// Go has various value types including strings,
-// integers, floats, booleans, etc. Here are a few
-// basic examples.
-
 package main
 
 import (
@@ -11,6 +7,7 @@ import (
   "os"
   "os/exec"
   "strings"
+  "time"
 
   "github.com/fatih/color"
 )
@@ -52,7 +49,7 @@ func colorLog(colour color.Attribute, objects ...interface{}) {
 
 func commandLog(objects ...interface{}) {
   localLog(color.FgWhite, "/Users/jesseduffieldduffield/go/src/github.com/jesseduffield/gitgot/commands.log", objects...)
-  localLog(color.FgWhite, "/Users/jesseduffieldduffield/go/src/github.com/jesseduffield/gitgot/development.log", objects...)
+  // localLog(color.FgWhite, "/Users/jesseduffieldduffield/go/src/github.com/jesseduffield/gitgot/development.log", objects...)
 }
 
 func localLog(colour color.Attribute, path string, objects ...interface{}) {
@@ -100,8 +97,12 @@ func mergeGitStatusFiles(oldGitFiles, newGitFiles []GitFile) []GitFile {
 }
 
 func runDirectCommand(command string) (string, error) {
+  timeStart := time.Now()
+
   commandLog(command)
   cmdOut, err := exec.Command("bash", "-c", command).CombinedOutput()
+  devLog("run direct command time for command: ", command, time.Now().Sub(timeStart))
+
   return string(cmdOut), err
 }
 
@@ -158,18 +159,12 @@ func getGitBranches() []Branch {
   for i, line := range branchLines {
     branches = append(branches, branchFromLine(line, i))
   }
-  devLog(branches)
   return branches
 }
 
 func getGitStatusFiles() []GitFile {
   statusOutput, _ := getGitStatus()
   statusStrings := splitLines(statusOutput)
-  devLog(statusStrings)
-  // a file can have both staged and unstaged changes
-  // I'll probably end up ignoring the unstaged flag for now but might revisit
-  // tracked, staged, unstaged
-
   gitFiles := make([]GitFile, 0)
 
   for _, statusString := range statusStrings {
@@ -199,9 +194,11 @@ func gitCheckout(branch string, force bool) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func runCommand(command string) (string, error) {
+  startTime := time.Now()
   commandLog(command)
   splitCmd := strings.Split(command, " ")
   cmdOut, err := exec.Command(splitCmd[0], splitCmd[1:]...).CombinedOutput()
+  devLog("run command time: ", time.Now().Sub(startTime))
   return string(cmdOut), err
 }
 
@@ -245,7 +242,9 @@ func getCommits() []Commit {
 }
 
 func getLog() string {
-  result, err := runDirectCommand("git log --oneline")
+  // currently limiting to 30 for performance reasons
+  // TODO: add lazyloading when you scroll down
+  result, err := runDirectCommand("git log --oneline -30")
   if err != nil {
     // assume if there is an error there are no commits yet for this branch
     return ""
diff --git a/gui.go b/gui.go
index bb07bb789..c16fc1cd5 100644
--- a/gui.go
+++ b/gui.go
@@ -1,9 +1,3 @@
-// lots of this has been directly ported from one of the example files, will brush up later
-
-// Copyright 2014 The gocui Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
 package main
 
 import (
@@ -11,7 +5,6 @@ import (
   // "io"
   // "io/ioutil"
 
-  "fmt"
   "log"
   // "strings"
 
@@ -181,26 +174,6 @@ func handleLogState(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
   return nil
 }
 
-func refreshStatus(g *gocui.Gui) error {
-  v, err := g.View("status")
-  if err != nil {
-    return err
-  }
-  v.Clear()
-  up, down := gitUpstreamDifferenceCount()
-  devLog(up, down)
-  fmt.Fprint(v, "↑"+up+"↓"+down)
-  branches := state.Branches
-  if len(branches) == 0 {
-    return nil
-  }
-  branch := branches[0]
-  // utilising the fact these all have padding to only grab the name
-  // from the display string with the existing coloring applied
-  fmt.Fprint(v, " "+branch.DisplayString[4:])
-  return nil
-}
-
 func layout(g *gocui.Gui) error {
   width, height := g.Size()
   leftSideWidth := width / 3
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 10272d56b..66f9686b3 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 package main
 
-import "github.com/fatih/color"
+import (
+  "time"
+)
+
+// StartTime : The starting time of the app
+var StartTime time.Time
 
 func main() {
-  verifyInGitRepo()
-  a, b := gitUpstreamDifferenceCount()
-  colorLog(color.FgRed, a, b)
   devLog("\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n")
+  StartTime = time.Now()
+  verifyInGitRepo()
   run()
 }
diff --git a/status_panel.go b/status_panel.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5172f19f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status_panel.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+  "fmt"
+  "time"
+
+  "github.com/fatih/color"
+  "github.com/jroimartin/gocui"
+)
+
+func refreshStatus(g *gocui.Gui) error {
+  v, err := g.View("status")
+  if err != nil {
+    return err
+  }
+  v.Clear()
+  up, down := gitUpstreamDifferenceCount()
+  fmt.Fprint(v, "↑"+up+"↓"+down)
+  branches := state.Branches
+  if len(branches) == 0 {
+    return nil
+  }
+  branch := branches[0]
+  // utilising the fact these all have padding to only grab the name
+  // from the display string with the existing coloring applied
+  fmt.Fprint(v, " "+branch.DisplayString[4:])
+
+  colorLog(color.FgCyan, time.Now().Sub(StartTime))
+  return nil
+}
diff --git a/view_helpers.go b/view_helpers.go
index b8acb524b..912063ca5 100644
--- a/view_helpers.go
+++ b/view_helpers.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ package main
 import (
   "fmt"
   "strings"
+  "time"
 
   "github.com/jroimartin/gocui"
 )
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ func correctCursor(v *gocui.View) error {
 
 func renderString(g *gocui.Gui, viewName, s string) error {
   g.Update(func(*gocui.Gui) error {
+    timeStart := time.Now()
     v, err := g.View(viewName)
     if err != nil {
       panic(err)
@@ -104,6 +106,7 @@ func renderString(g *gocui.Gui, viewName, s string) error {
     v.Clear()
     fmt.Fprint(v, s)
     v.Wrap = true
+    devLog("render time: ", time.Now().Sub(timeStart))
     return nil
   })
   return nil